In the Wake of Hurricane Michael, the Cajun Navy is Saving Lives

While Hurricane Michael was still swirling in the Gulf, hours yet from devastating the Florida panhandle, the Cajun Navy was already waiting for it. They had boats, trucks, chainsaws and other rescue gear with them, and were helping people evacuate as the storm unexpectedly and swiftly morphed into a monster.
The Cajun Navy is a grassroots response to professional rescue organizations like the National Guard and FEMA. They help fill in the gaps, especially when the professionals are overwhelmed by calls from people in need.
The Cajun Navy first set sail in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans 13 years ago. Nearly 400 volunteers drove their boats through the flooded city, rescuing over 10,000 people from rooftops and buildings.
https://www.facebook.com/CNNReplay/videos/2222103264469514/
Since then, the Navy has reappeared during other natural disasters in the Southeast, mostly when federal response has fallen short. Over the past few years, they’ve added many more members and have become a more organized group. They’ve responded to hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Florence and now Michael. And they are out right there, as of press time, paddling through an unrecognizable landscape, sifting through debris, saving lives one by one.
People in distress can request help through the Cajun Navy’s Facebook page and through sites like CrowdSource Rescue, which was created in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The Navy also leverages the power of social media to crowdsource help when they need it: A senior citizens’ home needed a backup generator installed, and within 3 hours, this post asking for help had more than 200 shares and a dozen comments. According to the Sarasota Herald, the Navy received more than 3,000 requests for help within the first 24 hours of the storm.
https://www.facebook.com/UNITEDCAJUNNAVY/posts/2285356931485077
As we begin to assess the full toll of Hurricane Michael, the Cajun Navy will be there, alongside other rescue workers, no matter the risk or how blurry the legal line is. (They’re a citizen team of “neighbors helping neighbors” as opposed to legally recognized first responders, which means they don’t usually meet the legal requirements for entering a disaster area.)
But as Cajun Navy president John Billiot told CNN, “If me rescuing people, and saving people’s lives [means] I get arrested, I said that’s no problem. America will have my back.”

Meet the Volunteers Feeding the Washington Mudslide Rescuers

Ever since a devastating mudslide hit Oso, Washington last week, rescue and recovery teams have been working hard to comb through the ruins. To date, the death toll has climbed to 28, with another 20 people still missing.
But it’s in these times of disaster that we are reminded of the incredible generosity and compassion of others.
As NBC News reports, a hardworking group of volunteers known as The Soup Ladies are providing fresh, homecooked meals such as Stroganoff over rice and chicken casseroles to fill the bellies of rescuers working at the site. According to their Twitter account, the group is now cooking 500 to 600 meals a day.
MORE: Just As This West Virginia Town Ran Out of Clean Water, Something Miraculous Happened
For 10 years, this nonprofit has been sending meals to rescue workers at disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. But as the Good News Network notes, this time, the Arlington, Washington nonprofit is helping the responders right in their own backyards, as the Oso mudslide happened a mere 70 miles away.
“I would never want to do their job,” volunteer Ginger Passarelli told NBC News. “But I can cook.”
Regular people doing extraordinary things for people who need it most? Sounds pretty heroic to us.
If you want to help the Soup Ladies with their cause, go on this site to donate.