Gentlemen,
Service is an important element of the ALERT Cadet ministry. In fact, every one of our Handbooks requires a father and son to serve in their home, church, and community to complete the requirements for advancement.
God often provides unexpected opportunities to serve as evidenced by the recent hurricane in Texas. Cadet Captain Randy McDonald, our Southern Region Coordinator, took the initiative to coordinate with the ALERT teams being deployed to assist with the clean up efforts. I’d like to share with you his report below as an encouragement to serve in your community and to personally experience the joy of serving.
Cadet Captain McDonald’s Report
Hurricane Ike came ashore at Galveston on Saturday, 20 September 2008, with a diameter as wide as the state of Texas. Although it had been downgraded from a Category 4 to a strong Category 2 storm, its initial strength produced an unusual storm surge as high as 13 feet in areas, which devastated regions far beyond Galveston. One of those areas was the town of Bridge City, Texas, in the Golden Triangle area near Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas.
The State of Texas Emergency Management Office called upon the International ALERT Academy to assist victims of the hurricane. ALERT Colonel Tanner initially led a group of ALERT men to Anahuac, Texas, in Chambers County, before the state redirected them to Bridge City, in Orange County, Texas, near the Louisiana border. This was an especially hard-hit area that had received little assistance. Colonel Tanner left half his team in Anahuac to finish up work that they had begun, and he arrived with the rest of the men in Bridge City on Sunday night, 21 September, only a few hours before the first contingent of ALERT Cadet fathers and sons arrived.
The ALERT Cadet and ALERT teams were initially housed with the National Guard in a church but were later moved to Bridge City High School. The entire Bridge City deployment began on Sunday, 21 September, and lasted through Saturday, 27 September. The total of 23 ALERT Cadet fathers and sons who participated in this deployment came from four units in Texas and Louisiana. Along with the 22 men from the ALERT team, this deployment was the largest joint deployment effort of ALERT and ALERT Cadets in recent history.
The Bridge City area had gone through many powerful hurricanes over the decades, such as Hurricane Carla in the early 1960’s, but never one similar to the devastation caused by Ike. One resident who was helped by an ALERT Cadet team stated that she had lived there over 60 years, and she was not aware of another time that the city had flooded in a storm. However, Hurricane Ike’s storm surge produced flooding in houses in Bridge City up to 8 feet. In fact, only 12 houses in the entire city escaped flooding. Residents who returned following a mandatory evacuation order found that their houses had not only flooded, but in many cases were filled with swamp reeds and a thick, smelly black mud which coated the contents of their houses. Alligators and snakes were found in swimming pools and houses.
The ALERT Cadets and ALERT men performed work ranging from hauling furniture, appliances, carpet, and general house contents to the street, to shoveling out the smelly mud from homes. They tore out sheetrock, cabinets, and brick fireplaces from houses, removed wood floors, power washed the inside of homes, and hauled hundreds of wheelbarrow loads of debris. In most cases, ALERT Cadet fathers and sons and ALERT men worked right alongside homeowners, many of them overcome with grief at losing almost everything they owned. While many of the residents had flood insurance, some did not. One single mother with a disabled daughter had no insurance on her contents, and an ALERT Cadet team spent a day and a half assisting her in various ways.
Four joint teams assisted the hardest hit areas of the city, and the street names of Dugas, Sharp, Young and Norbert became well familiar to ALERT and ALERT Cadet members. Residents of this area often flagged the men down and asked for help as word spread that they were available to assist. One wife, whose husband’s employer would not allow him off work, was frustrated and physically exhausted when she was initially approached with offers to help. After several hours of working alongside ALERT and ALERT Cadet members, her frustration had turned to smiles and laughter. At almost every house, ALERT Cadet fathers and sons and ALERT men sang and prayed with residents. One resident kept asking for “another hymn” and the team members were “hymned out” after four selections. Residents often broke into tears and said, “How can we ever repay you?”
However, the greatest joy was not felt by the victims of the hurricane, but by the team members themselves who experienced the joy of serving and giving God the glory. They will never be the same, as they truly experienced the truth that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.”
May God continue to allow us as fathers to model service for our sons.
Major Roger D. Farr
ALERT Cadet Commanding Officer
