 Forklifts help in the relief operation. |
Civilian, state and federal relief operatives used forklifts in moving and loading commodities and equipment for those that Isaac impacted as a tropical storm and Category 1 hurricane.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took aggressive steps to prepare for the aftermath of Isaac.
Among the efforts, operators of forklifts loaded meals, commodities and equipment onto trucks at FEMA distribution centres including Atlanta, Georgia for shipment to areas anticipating Isaac's fury.
FEMA deals with disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and is an agency of the US Department of Homeland Security.
National Guard units in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama used forklifts to transfer pallets of generators, ready-to-eat meals, water, ice and other essential supplies to key relief distribution facilities throughout their respective states. More than 3,600 National Guard personnel were on duty in the three states.
The American Logistics Aid Network through its
www.ALANaid.org website was matching donated supply-chain services with community needs. John T Menzies III, chairman of The Terminal Corp in Baltimore, Maryland, is president of the network, which was established following the devastating Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and uses the slogan "mobilising for emergency response".
Utility crews with their boom trucks, truck-mounted cranes and aerial work platforms arrived from surrounding states and regions to help power companies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida restore outages, reconnect downed electrical lines and resume service to hundreds of thousands of customers.
In advance of Isaac's arrival, port authorities in Alabama, Louisiana and elsewhere shut down their operations and moved operating equipment including forklifts to higher ground less vulnerable to the anticipated surges.
Dauphin Island Marina Inc sustained significant structural and electrical damage and closed for business from August 31 to at least September 11. Boats in dry storage were safe but inaccessible until the completion of repairs to docks around the forklift launch area and fuel docks. The marina is located at the mouth of Mobile Bay on Dauphin Island, Alabama.
Isaac formed as a tropical storm on August 21 in the Lesser Antilles island arc in the Caribbean Sea. Isaac was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir‐Simpson scale in making landfall around 6.45am on August 28 in Plaquemines Parish, south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana. Isaac dissipated on September 2 after killing at least 34 people on the West Indies island of Hispaniola, five in Louisiana and two each in Mississippi and Florida.