Local responders help in aftermath of Hurricane Irma

When Chaska Fire Chief Tim Wiebe arrived in the Florida Keys, his team had no electricity, clean water or even steady cell phone service.  
The Minnesota All Hazard Incident Management Team was in charge of creating distribution points in the region, which had been hit by Hurricane Irma on Sept. 11. The team consisted of 15 other firefighters, including Scott Gerber, who is a Chaska Fire volunteer and the Excelsior Fire chief. 
 Wiebe and Gerber served for about two weeks and helped an estimated 50,000 people. Each person who came to the distribution center was given a case of water, food and ice. The firefighters left Minnesota Sept. 8 and returned Sept. 22. It was Wiebe’s first time responding to a natural disaster outside of Minnesota. He had previously responded to a flood in Moorhead and a tornado in St. Peter, he said. Florida was different in that there weren’t many resources. While the team was driving down to Florida, they saw people in hour-long lines to get fuel. 
They even had issues obtaining gas themselves, but were able to fill their engines at a United States Air Force base in Orlando. Though the team had to wait 2-1/2 hours while the state of Florida and Air Force officials negotiated on the transaction, Wiebe said. In the Keys, some homes were completely destroyed, while others nearby had minimum roof and siding damage. Boats were in trees and many trees were stripped of their leaves and bark, Wiebe said. 
 “The stuff I saw was off of main roads and it was estimated 25 percent of the houses were not livable because they had wind damage and water damage,” he said. “We were not able to work in the dark,” Wiebe continued, noting there was a mandatory curfew from sunrise to sunset and those outside in the dark would be arrested and taken to jail. For the firefighters, as soon as they were debriefed, they would go to sleep. One of the main challenges the crews had were communicating with the people in the Keys. “When you don’t have electricity, you can’t watch TV, there’s no internet. So how do you communicate to the residents?” he said. “We had one radio station hooked up to a Honda generator.

 That was the only lifeline.” Within a few days of the crews’ stay in the Keys, electricity was restored and portable cell towers were set up (although reception was intermittent), Wiebe said. “Relief efforts, it seemed like they were going really well. ... Things went pretty smooth,” he said. “Things are slowly getting better. Some places will take weeks and months and some places will take years, if ever.” ELECTRIC Leo Rohlik and Jordan Storms from the city’s electrical department were in Kissimmee (a city south of Orlando) and Lake Worth while they were in Florida for approximately two weeks helping restore the electrical grid. They drove from Minnesota in a Chaska Electric bucket truck and used it to operate on distribution lines in neighborhoods and were part of a team from the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency. Their toughest problem was getting the truck through slim alleyways and at one point, they had to cut a wire fence to allow the truck to pass through. They left Minnesota on Sept. 9 and returned on Sept. 22. The drive down to Florida took twice as long, Rohlik said, noting that from Atlanta the drive was projected to take 5-8 hours, but took them 15. Among the vehicles in the traffic were other responders going to help those in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. “From all the vehicles, it was impressive with the number of trucks going down there — there were thousands,” 

Rohlik said. Costs associated with driving down to Florida, wages, food and lodging for the responders will be reimbursed to the city from FEMA, according to City Administrator Matt Podhradsky. “We’ve heard that they really felt that Minnesota really stood out down there — they really felt they did a fantastic job,” Podhradsky said, adding that the crews were able to perform emergency tasks they usually wouldn’t do in Chaska. “It puts city in in better position. There’s a training and relationship benefit there,” he said. Mayor Mark Windschitl commended the responders who left within hours of receiving the call to go to Florida. “It’s a big deal to pack up and leave for two weeks. ... There’s little communication,” Windschitl said, adding that much of the infrastructure such as electricity and telephone service was not even available to responders. “They put in more hours than what they are being paid for,” he added. “I think it’s a great thing that Chaska is willing to support the hurricane relief. ... I’ve been on a number of (national emergency) deployments in the fire service and what you learn is amazing.”