ON THE SCENE DURINGE HURRICANE n August 29 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck land The massive storm Detail Area was 400 miles 644 km wide Its winds blew 100 to 140 miles per hour 16l to 225 kmh The A R MS Gulf Coast of the United AL G A States was hit hard The Mobile hurricane caused a great LA deal of damage But what FL Gulfport happened afterward was a catastrophe Half of New Orleans Louisiana is below New Orleans GULF OF w n Areas hit by Hurricane Katrina MEXICO sea level The city is Hurricane Katrina did the most damage in Louisiana Mississippi Alabama and
one memory A Pararescue Jumper looks out of a helicopter over the flooded city of New Orleans surrounded by levees The levees keep water from flooding the city But strong winds and rushing water from Hurricane Katrina broke many of the levees The water flooded New Orleans It was worse than anyone in the city had ever seen Many people were trapped by the flooding and could not get to dry land The United States Air Force Pararescue Jumpers were called into action They used helicopters to search for people who were trapped They rescued people from bridges rooftops and flooded buildings The Pararescue Jumpers usually rescue military service members who are trapped in enemy territory But they are just as ready willing and able to rescue civilians All together the Pararescue Jumpers saved more than 4 000 people trapped by Hurricane
BEFORE THE PARARESCE M uring World War I and World War II military airplanes carried supplies Airplanes weren't as safe and reliable as they are today Flying was dangerous and many of the planes went down Crashes weren't always deadly for the crew The pilot might pull off a crash landing Starting in World War II the crew wearing parachutes would sometimes jump out of the plane Surviving the crash landing or parachute drop was only the first step Next the survivors had to find food keep warm and tend to any
injuries They then had to try to make their way to safety This was hard to do in cold remote places such as northern Canada Whenever a plane went down other planes would be sent to search for it The pilots hoped to find survivors and rescue them However even when survivors were located it could be extremely difficult to get to them Rescue planes needed clear even ground to land After landing it might take rescue parties several days to reach the survivors For someone who was hurt hungry and 018 470die freezing that could be too long to wait Today instead of trying to land a rescue plane Pararescue Jumpers use parachutes to reach stranded or trapped people More than 3 000 C 46 airplanes flew supplies during World War
