We are following BARREL, starting to pick up speed across
Texas.
Those in the state are conducting rescue and recovery operations
as we speak.
But it's not just local and federal authorities.
the United Cajun Navy is also assisting in all these
efforts.
It's a nonprofit organization known for providing help and relief
during natural disasters.
Todd Terrell is president and founder of the United Cajun
Navy.
And also Scott Peak is a part of the United
Cajun Navy.
He is a storm chaser.
Both of them join me now.
Guys, really appreciate it. Scott,
why don't we start with you
And you're in the car.
You're cruising through. Tell me what you have seen,
what you're seeing now, just what you've been
tracking.
Yeah. So right now, there's major flooding happening here in
Houston.
Even though the rain has stopped,
there's still a lot of water rescues happening.
As we speak. People are still actually driving into these
floods,
not knowing how deep the water is.
So that's making it really difficult for us to
rescue those people. But luckily,
we have. We've teamed up with our partners.
We have vehicles that are able to go under the
water and pick those people up and get them to
drive ground and to safety.
So I'm curious when the fact that you are actually
finding drivers driving into the floodwaters,
what are they telling you when you you know,
when you roll in or when,
when rescue teams are coming in?
Is it because they're trying to get out of the
area?
They think they can go up against the challenge of
these deep waters?
Are they trying to get to family,
friends? What do you know?
Yeah. So I think they're just,
I think they're, they're thinking they can go through it
and
without, with with ease. But they're,
they realize they've bit off more than they can chew.
And next thing you know,
they're stuck in the water and they're they're having to
get rescued.
So it's it's it's kind of frustrating,
but they're just, they're just trying to get out of
there.
But it's it's not the right way to do it.
No, it's not. And I know a lot of people
do desperate things in desperate times.
And Todd, you know, that's where you guys come in.
You have sent all type of assets
down to the Houston area,
in particular your boats. Tell me what you've responded to.
What's the latest? How are operations going right now?
Is it nonstop?
It's pretty much non-stop. Yeah.
I think that this storm kind of caught everybody off
by surprise.
And I think, you know,
a lot of people didn't evacuate.
Course, I'm not even sure if they could have evacuated,
you know, based off of the projections that were coming
in.
But, you know, right now we're bringing in supplies besides
the rescuing that
might be water, tarps, plastic totes for people to put
their stuff in.
They got wet or they don't want to get it
wet and just food.
We're also able to feed some first responders,
you know, make sure they got a hot meal because
if people were affected themselves,
a lot of first responders were affected.
If we go in and help them,
you know, make sure that their house is taken care
of and they're,
they got a hot meal in their stomach,
they're able to help everybody better.
So that's just what we're doing.
And as you mentioned earlier,
it looks like there's some tornadoes that are going to
start coming through a little bit,
a little bit east of us.
So it's just going to keep us busy for a
while.
So Todd, how are you reaching out to folks and
warning them?
You know, I know in the past
door knocks have have saved lives.
Are you doing that as well?
Are you guys involved in sort of the warning process
or trying to let folks know,
hey, things are going to be coming through your area
or maybe going into areas that have been slightly impacted
where it could get worse?
Well, I tell you this several ways.
You know, we have a big network and we're like
an umbrella for a lot of organizations,
businesses and church organizations. One good way that we've responded
today is of course,
everybody knows Mattress Mac Furniture Gallery.
Mattress Mac opened up his business to as a shelter
or one of his warehouses.
And so the people that are coming there,
you know, they either have no power or tree on
their house or their house is flooded.
So we're getting first hand information from a lot of
people that are going to into these shelters and that's
one of the ways we're getting them right there.
And I'm curious, Scott, as a storm chaser,
I mean, how do you make sure you're getting what
you need to get with regard to information,
but also keeping yourself safe?
I mean, you're going right into it,
right? Well, we have computer models and weather data radar
that shows us on the map where we are.
And obviously having a, a sense of self-awareness when we're
out chasing not just flooding,
but tornadoes and, and hurricanes.
We're, we're constantly aware of our,
of our surroundings. So, and we have radar.
So we're getting up to date information from that.
So, and we're, we always have an escape route when
we're we're out there.
In this case, when we're out in the
Surfside Beach, Texas, we had a large bridge that we
could escape to in case the floodwaters got too high.
So we always keep a,
a, a
way to keep a safe
and an escape route. But when we're doing this stuff
and also bringing us real time information,
Todd Terrell and Scott Peak with the United Cajun Navy.
Guys, thanks so much. Appreciate what you're doing.
Please stay in touch with us.
Yes, ma'am, thank you, thank you.
God bless. You bet.