December 16, 2008 - National Conference for Secure Communities

I was invited to Washington D.C. to speak at a symposium to develop key recommendations for the new administration. I participated as a discussion leader/subject matter expert for the symposium sharing about the model “First Response Team of America”.

I participated in a mixer the night before the symposium began. I had a chance to meet Lt. General Russell Honoree. He recognized me and said, “I know who you are, you’re that guy from CNN! I want to join your team and partner with you.” It was an honor to meet the general. He is well known for overseeing the United States military response to Hurricane Katrina. The next morning we had breakfast together, and I had a chance to talk with him about working together in the future. He offered to help me build a relationship with the Red Cross and with Homeland Security. I will take him up on that offer soon enough.

That afternoon I presented the story and work of the First Response Team to senators, governors, mayors, and various government and emergency officials. I shared how this model of custom-designed equipment, technology, and experienced staff meets the needs of communities devastated by disasters on day one and in the first few critical weeks after a disaster strikes. They even played a video from CNN Heroes. Afterwards I had an opportunity to meet many representatives from state, federal and humanitarian agencies who were also interested in meeting the various needs of disaster victims.

Yet, I must conclude, Washington is not necessarily the perfect fit for me. I find the more time I spend in the field, the better I will be at finding solutions that work. At that point, I will continue to have proven solutions to present to our country that I’m confident will work.

November 27, 2008 - CNN All-Star Tribute, Kodak Theater

What a night. Today I was honored as one of CNN’s top ten heroes for 2008. Being in the Kodak Theater was a bit surreal – it’s the same theater where the Grammys are held. Anderson Cooper hosted it and Grammy Award-winning artists Alicia Keys and John Legend performed. Celebrities who presented awards were Cameron Diaz, Meg Ryan, Forest Whitaker, Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, Terrence Howard, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and Selena Gomez. In addition, Hugh Jackman presented PEOPLE Magazine’s 2008 “Heroes Among Us”.

It was so great to be there with two of the guys from the team, Seth Lambert and Tim Wolkowicz. All three of us sat in the front row during the ceremony. There were so many famous people present and because I’m not up with pop culture I did not recognize many of them. John Krasinski, Len Wiseman, Molly Sims, Ricki Lake, Eliza Dushku, Ken Paves, Leelee Sobieski, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rachel Zoe, Taylor Swift and Robert Duvall were some of the many stars who were there to celebrate with us.

But, I must say, the highlight of the whole night was meeting the other CNN heroes. I had a chance to talk with each one of them, and it was truly inspiring. All of us had the same hearts – we simply wanted to live lives that changed the world around us. We can’t make everything better but we can live lives of change and help where we can with the resources and abilities we have.

Beyond that…meeting Lucy Liu was a bit of a surprise. After the tribute was over each hero was supposed to get pictures taken with the star that presented their award. John Krasinski, who gave me my award, had to leave shortly after the tribute so I was standing alone. Then all of a sudden this beautiful person walked up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Lucy Liu! Your work is wonderful and impressive. Would you like to take a picture together?”


Overall it was a wonderful evening. I was thankful to be with my men, the other heroes, and to be honored for all the hard work that has gone into taking the dream of the First Response Team and making it a reality. Thank you.

October 8, 2008 - Top Ten CNN Hereos

This morning CNN’s Anderson Cooper announced that I was selected along with nine other people by a blue ribbon panel as a finalist for CNN’s Hero of the Year 2008! It was exciting because I was a bit nervous, not knowing if I would make it to the top ten or not. I knew that if I made it to the top ten the exposure would be great for the team!

For the last year and a half, I have fully paid for this operation myself, and I’m at the point where I have completely exhausted my financial resources. The only way I can continue the work of the team is to start a non-profit, and this exposure will help get it off the ground. Funding is needed for the 2009 storm season, and I’m hoping this endorsement from the most trusted name in news will help us with that.

Being in the top ten means I and nine other honorees will be saluted during the 'CNN HEROES All-Star Tribute' to be broadcast on the global networks of CNN on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 27th.

The Blue Ribbon Panel of judges that chose us included: Queen Rania Al Abdullah, founder of the Jordan River Foundation; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, founder and chair of This World: The Jewish Values Network; Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit foundation of Virgin Group; Deepak Chopra, doctor, philosopher, author and speaker; Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute; Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Earvin “Magic” Johnson, founder and chairman of the Magic Johnson Foundation; George Lopez, comedian, actor and founder of The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation; Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute and co-founder and president of the Millennium Promise Alliance; Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; Kristi Yamaguchi, founder of The Always Dream Foundation; and Holly Robinson Peete, activist and advocate through the HollyRod Foundation.

The public will be able to vote and select the “CNN Hero of the Year” via voting at the CNN Heroes site from now through Wednesday, Nov. 19. At the November gala, CNN will honor the 10 heroes and reveal the CNN Hero of the Year, who will receive an additional $100,000. In its second year, the multiplatform initiative received nearly 4,000 submissions from 75 countries. So in other words…please vote for me. The team could really use the money!

June 21, 2008 - Clarksville, MO Flood

We quickly heard of the troubles Clarksville, MO, was having holding back the river. The roads to Clarksville were winding and narrow, which proved challenging as we navigated our fleet of over a million dollars of equipment down to this little river town. The only way into town was through this extremely steep and narrow road. When we arrived, a local emergency official greeted us and immediately put us to work.

The town’s sandbagging operation consisted of volunteers making bags and loading trucks, which at times took hours. Seth and Rob quickly got the two cranes ready and positioned to load the piles of sand bags volunteers had made the previous days. The National Guards was there equipped with dump trucks. We loaded their trucks one after the other, only taking about five minutes per truck. This sped up the building of the levees because the sand bags were now getting to the river much quicker.

We were also asked to escort the National Guard engineers to buildings facing danger on the Mississippi River using our hovercraft. Levees needed to be inspected from the river side, and measurements needed to be taken to find out whether the river was rising or falling – and whether the worst was ahead or behind us. The water was filled with debris such as trees and railroad tracks that were barely sticking out from the water. Two by two I ferried the military as well as local emergency officials to where they needed to go on the unpredictable river.

The area along this part of the river has very large hills. They seemed to be blocking our cell phone service so we had to use our satellite phone system. The team was able to keep in contact since we were basically spread all throughout the town.

People magazine showed up to do an article on me. It was a bit odd to stand there in this disaster area and take photos for a magazine. I hope it helps bring exposure to the First Response Team, and people will start supporting us.

We are going to stay here for a few days to help with sandbagging, pumping water, and providing communication – as well as being prepared to help out with water rescues if needed.

June 20, 2008 - Clarksville, MO Flood

We finished up in Burlington and as we were loading the CATs and water pumps I began to make plans to follow the river south and see if other communities about to be flooded needed our help. The reports were coming in from down south that small country towns were bracing for the destructive floodwaters. This river that was sucking full homes into its waters just north of us was proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

But the decision of which town we would respond to next was just about to be made for me. My cell phone rang and the person on the other end of the line asked, “Is this Tad Agoglia?” I said yes. He went on to explain that he was calling from Missouri’s emergency operation center in the state capital. They heard we had a hovercraft and needed us to respond to a distress call where more than 70 volunteers were cut off from help by the Mississippi River in a sand bagging operation south of the city of Clarksville. I explained we were only about two hours away and could leave immediately. When I asked how he got my cell phone number he said, “Aren’t you the guy who came to Ava, MO, to power up our nursing home?”

The team was already tired from our non-stop travels from Picher, OK, Parkersburg, IA, Middletown, IN, Oakville, IA, Burlington, IA and now south to Clarksville…but we knew we had to respond.

The trip south was a bit tense. Time was of the essence, and we had to get there as soon as possible – but due to the size of our rigs and the winding roads we had to take our time and be safe. The roads were small, winding, and hilly in eastern Missouri. One false move and we would have drifted off these narrow roads. We would have defeated our purpose if we hurt someone else in the process of helping others.



By the time we arrived, we discovered that it was a false alarm. I called the capital to alert them, and we realized someone had their information wrong. As far as I was concerned, it was good news. At this point, the Mississippi was raging and had shown no mercy for the many cities left in the wake of its destruction. I then heard about a community just a few miles north that was in need of a hovercraft to help monitor levees and check the river levels. We left within the hour for Clarksville, MO.

June 18, 2008 - Burlington, IA Flood

We were just finishing up in Oakville and decided to head out of town, get a decent hotel, and get some laundry done. The team was tired and was looking forward to enjoying a good meal and some rest. Rob went out to do some shopping in the nearest city, which was Burlington. Within an hour my phone rang – it was Rob explaining that there was a building right on the Mississippi River that was underwater, and it looked like they could really use our help. I jumped in my truck and headed down to Burlington.

Within a few minutes of my arrival I met Pete Wilson, the factory manager of LaMont Limited. He explained that the water pump, which was almost 40 years old, caught on fire and the basement of this huge factory has subsequently filled with water, just one inch away from the majority of the inventory on the first floor.

I called the rest of the team to get all the equipment to downtown Burlington and within an hour we had our 1800 gallon-per-minute water pump removing the water from the basement.

But that would not completely solve the problem. The LaMont Limited building was under water – the Mississippi River was surrounding the building with water 3-4 feet high. We could pump the water out of the basement but it would just fill back up as soon as we pumped it out. Our only choice was to sand bag around the building…but can you sand bag a building that is already under water? There was only one way to find ouy: Let’s sand bag it.

It would take a small army to walk sand bags through the water one by one and build this wall to hold back the river. The $310,000 trucks were too expensive to risk putting in the deep water and the only piece of equipment that could drive through 3-4 feet of water with sand bags was our CAT skid steers. I decided to take a chance and send one in with the other one on standby with cables and chains in case the first skid steer stalled from the deep waters.

For the next 10 hours, the First Response Team worked tirelessly with some of the factory workers. While the water pump was pumping, we were building this wall in the hopes that it would work. By 10 pm the wall was built, and we were soaking wet. The water pump was still working and by 6 am the next morning the basement was empty.

Guess what? It worked. The wall was built around the factory and no more water was flooding into the basement. I never thought you could sand bag a wall around a building that was already under water and then pump the building dry but we did it anyway and we saved the inventory of the largest factory in Burlington, IA.

As we were finishing up that morning, I kept my eye on the weather reports. I heard of many communities that were nervous about the raging waters headed south. I knew many of them would not have the budgets nor equipment to help themselves, similar to the situation in Oakville. We loaded the equipment and said goodbye. I was going to make some calls and do some more research about communities along the river when my cell phone suddenly rang.

June 15, 2008 - Oakville, IA Flood

It was a good fight but we didn’t win. Even though everybody in the town and from nearby cities came to help, we lost this one. There was a breach today, and it was impossible to stop. We tried but just could not hold back the water. Within a few short hours the city of Oakville, IA, was completely flooded, including approximately 18,000 acres of surrounding farmland.

When we started this fight I was not sure if we would really hold back the river. Further north the river was overtaking cities that had more resources than Oakville. But what if we did not give it our best? What would that say about the community? What would that say to future generations about giving it your best shot…to always try and never give up?

I’m glad we came to Oakville. It was worth it to be a part of this effort and to experience the passion, drive, and dedication of a small town. This town joined together to help neighbors and strangers alike, expecting nothing in return, fighting for the existence of their community. I have no doubt in my mind that Oakville will not look back. They will rebuild those levees better than ever before, they will rebuild their town, and will continue to be the heart and soul of America.

June 14, 2008 - Oakville, IA Flood

The sand bagging operation was going well but more four wheelers were coming in from nearby towns to help build the levy. By now Tim and Seth had arrived from Middleton with the other grapple truck. Since the grapple truck has a 60-cubic yard dump trailer able to hold and dump 80,000 pounds, we decided to use it to carry thousands of sand bags from the bagging operation to the levy. Since only one man is needed to run the grapple truck, the Team was able to move enough sand bags to keep another 100 four wheelers working.

Things were going well, and the spirits of the community were high. We were making progress, and the levy was going up just in time. Every once in a while I would stop and look around me at the people working together to help save each other’s homes. From early morning until late at night no one stopped working.

The water was getting higher. I recommended to the community leaders to move the sand bagging operation farther outside of town. I did not like that so many young kids were making sandbags in an area that would be difficult to evacuate should the levy break. I did not want to be the one sending a bad vibe but none of this would be worth it if people got hurt. People are more important than property.

The leaders agreed, and we began to move sand, bags and equipment outside of town. We set up the new sand bagging operation in a local church parking lot. In the meantime, Tim was out on the dirt bike with the Sat Phone, GPS, and GMRS radios monitoring the levy. It was his job to alert the Team and the community if there was any sign of the levy breaching. This would either give us time to fix it or to get everyone evacuated.

June 13, 2008 - Oakville, IA Flood

While finishing up in Middletown, IN, I received a call from a farmer by the name of Todd Maser. I met Todd while helping out in Parkersburg, IA. He asked if the team could help in the town where he lived. Oakville is a small town in southern IA, and it was being threatened by floodwaters from the swollen Mississippi river. The river was rising, and everyone had joined forces to build a seven mile levy, four feet high around their city…but they needed equipment. All they had were farm trucks, a tractor, and a lot of four wheelers.

There was still work to do in Middletown so I decided to split the team up. Seth and Tim would stay in Indiana, and Rob and I would head to Iowa. I left immediately and upon our arrival I saw something I had never seen before – a community of young and old working together to save their city. I immediately knew the situation was serious, and we only had a few days to get this levy built. I called Seth and Tim and told them to finish up in Indiana and get to Oakville as soon as possible.

Oakville had two dump trucks, one John Deere tractor, a few hundred people, and probably 250 four wheelers: basically just manpower and four wheelers. I decided to speed up the sand bagging operation by having the baggers throw the finished sand bags into the skid steer bucket, instead of on the ground. The skid steer would them bring them to where our crane was parked. By making one huge pile of sand bags, we could then load the bags into dump trucks with the crane. Since our crane has such a large hydraulic head, it was able to pick up 30-40 sandbags at a time and loaded the dump trucks within minutes instead of hours. We kept the dump trucks moving from the sand bagging operation to the levy. Now, instead of the four wheelers driving all the way from the sand bagging operation to the levy, we could deliver the sand bags directly to the base of the levy so the four wheelers could be put to better use in building the levy.

June 11, 2008 - Middletown, IN Flood

We quickly heard about Middletown, IN. It was a unique situation because not only did the town get hit with the flood, but just a few days earlier it got hit by a tornado. Almost every roof in the town was ripped off and when the water came it simply destroyed everything. Now this is one of the smallest towns I have ever been in. The corner country store that used to be there looks like it’s closed. But the people who live here seem very kind.

Because we work directly with and under the local government and emergency officials, I don’t often get a chance to personally meet with homeowners. But this small town was different; I was able to meet each person who lived in those homes.

Over the next few days we will clean up this whole town. It’s not big and won’t be too much work, but for some reason this place is special. It’s so small and out of the way, I’m not sure who would come to help these people.

June 10, 2008 - Indiana Floods

Flash floods began to hit all over Indiana without much notice. Main highways were washing out, and we knew help would be needed. We said our goodbyes in Parkersburg and arrived in Indiana early this morning. We visited a few communities that were hit the worst. One of them kicked us out. The emergency official said to me, “This ain’t my first rodeo, son. I know guys like you – you offer your help and in the end slip me a big bill”. This is the second time this has happened to me where people just can’t believe all the equipment is here for free. But I did not have time to allow my feelings to be hurt. So many communities are devastated in this area, and they need our help. I tipped my hat and wished him the best and turned and walked out of his office. When the men and I were getting in our trucks people were crying and asking, “Where are you going?” I had no choice but to explain that the local authorities did not want our help. It was hard for me to drive out of that city. There was a nursing home that needed power and many washed out roads that needed to be filled. We could have done so much there but I will always respect the leadership in charge. It is their city, not mine.

June 8, 2008 - Parkersburg, IA Tornado

We have really grown close to the people here in Parkersburg. Tonight was the first town hall meeting. I was asked to sit in front with the police chief, sheriff, and the town board. They opened up the meeting by welcoming the community to the first town hall meeting since the tornado, which was held in an abandoned mechanic garage on the outskirts of town. Then the chief said, “First order or business, many of you have seen the large black trucks in town opening up roads. We would like to introduce you to the man who owns those trucks, Tad Agoglia.” I was taken aback as everyone from the town gave me a standing ovation.

Later tonight I was told by many people that we gave them hope that they could begin again – because they saw progress and because people cared enough to come help. They simply felt better days were ahead. I’m thankful we can help.

June 2, 2008 - Parkersburg, IA Tornado

We have been in Parkersburg for several days now. We have grown close to the local emergency and government officials. We are no longer staying at the hotel but at County Sheriff Johnson’s house. Our main effort here has been opening up roads. The main highway going through town had piles of debris 30-40 foot high. It was difficult and dangerous for people to drive through because visibility was so bad.

We usually just push debris aside but in this case there were so many houses piled on top of each other – covering a vital road – that we had to remove the debris to the edge of town. When Chris and Jason asked what they could do to help, I said get me dump trucks because dump trucks are usually what is available in most parts of the country.

Jason and Chris took me seriously because dump trucks arrived from three surrounding counties, and for the past few days we have been moving hundreds of truckloads of debris off the main highway.

Today is the day they are burying the husband and wife who died together. The funeral precession came right through the main road where we were working, and we all stopped as everyone drove by. I just can’t seem to get used to this. I can get used to houses and cars being destroyed but I can’t get used to death. It stops me in my tracks every time and makes me think.

After all the cars passed we kept at our work. The truck drivers could not believe we were loading them so fast, one after the other, each truck only taking 1-3 minutes to load. We are tired though – it’s been a long storm season and I know it’s not over yet. We should be done here in Parkersburg in the next few days.

May 27, 2008 - Parkersburg, IA Tornado

We stayed in Picher until yesterday. The situation there was about as stable as possible. Reports started coming in of an EF5 tornado that ripped apart Parkersburg, IA. This is the largest tornado of the year so far, and it was a direct hit on the city. I decided they were going to need our help. We left immediately and arrived in Parkersburg as the sun was coming up.

Tim and I walked into what was left of the volunteer firehouse. The walls and roof were ripped off and all that was left of the garage were steel ribs. There was a lot of commotion and all of a sudden I heard someone scream, “Disaster Recover Solutions!” I heard it screamed again as a man dressed in a police officer’s uniform came around the corner of a fire truck. I identified myself as the person he was looking for. He said, “Are you the guy that owns that large black truck out front?” I said, “Yes, and we are here to help any way you need us.”

He said, “Follow me.” As we walked he said, “My name is Chris Luhring. I have lived here my whole life, and my city is destroyed. I have family who has died, I have friends who have died, and I don’t even know where to bury them. My office in city hall is gone, all the file cabinets, safes, computers, everything is gone. Can you help me?” I said, “Yes, show us where city hall used to be, and we can get to work on finding whatever we can.”

He showed us where to start, and we began digging. We began to pick at the pile of debris with our crane. The tornado was so powerful that houses and cars from blocks away were thrown into city hall – which meant parts of city hall may be lying blocks away as well. Our search went beyond the city hall lot and, according to Chris, we recovered 80 percent of their vital documents. As we stood amidst the rubble with bags of papers, the county clerk we were working with said, “Well, I guess we have to dig graves now.” I explained to him we could use our skid steer to help.

So just a few hours ago the First Response Team did something I never thought we would do: dig graves with the local high school kids using shovels. It was so strange because I never thought I would do something like that in my life. Tim and the kids worked hard, especially on one that needed to be dug double wide for a husband and wife to be buried together.

Chris introduced us to Jason Johnson, the sheriff of the county. They offered to get us a hotel, and thanked us for coming to help. We will meet them tomorrow at sunrise in Parkersburg to again help out in any way we can.

May 15, 2008 - Picher, OK Tornado

After the response phase of a disaster, we often help people clean up their home lots…but not here. This community will not rebuild so people are returning just to get whatever valuables they can before leaving for good. It’s sad because most of what I see in disasters is people rebuilding and finding hope in the rebuilding process.

Today I saw a man stumbling through a pile of rubble that used to be his home. It looked from a distance as if he was having a difficult time walking around the home site. I walked up to him and asked him if he needed help with anything. At that point most of what we were doing in the community was lifting up large objects so people could find personal belongings.

The man looked at me and without hesitation said, “See this home? I don’t care about any of it. This used to be a beautiful two-story home with four nice cars, and I could care less about it. All I want is to find a green briefcase of photos of my mother who passed away years ago.”

His name was John. I explained we could help and minutes later we had the Prentice loader and CAT skid steer pulling apart this man’s home piece by piece. A few hours later Seth thought he found the photos but it turns out there were two green briefcases, and this one did not have the pictures in it. We kept at it and later that afternoon we found the green briefcase of pictures. I will never forget seeing Seth and John standing in the middle of this huge pile of rubble that used to be a home – looking at photos. At that point nothing else matter to John. He didn’t care about anything except that briefcase.

I’m not sure if this is because people are in shock but I have yet to meet someone who has been through one of these disasters, who looked at their home and said, “I can’t go on.” I have only met people who have said, “I’m so glad my family and friends are alive. We can rebuild these homes but we can’t replace our friends and family.”

May 13, 2008 - Picher, OK Tornado

The past few days in Picher have been filled with a lot of hard work. We have done everything from clear roads, pull cars out of trees, and help homeowners find their belongings by removing roofs, walls, and cars from their former homes. We have been so welcomed by this community. The locals have offered us places to stay, and the fire department has fed us.

Still, the situation here is sad. The tornado that hit Picher was an EF4 and destroyed almost 300 homes. At the time, the city was in the middle of what is called a “government buyout”. Years ago Picher was a thriving mining town but now many of the mined dirt piles are allegedly contaminated. Very few volunteer organizations have come to help due to the contamination. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Southern Baptist Convention, and the First Response Team of America were the only help that arrived – and we are still the only ones that showed up with equipment.


When we first arrived, we were on standby with the generator and within 24 hours we were able to jumpstart the sewage system in the town. We were also told that our hovercraft may be needed since there were still some people missing, and it was speculated that some people trying to escape from the storm in their cars may have been thrown into the lake. Unfortunately, it was true – the dike holding back the lake was dug out, the water drained, and the bodies recovered. The situation in Picher was sad…there were bodies found in trees, homes, and cars. The city moral was already low due to the mandatory government buyout and now everything these people had left was destroyed – giving them no choice to rebuild and forcing them to move out.

May 10, 2008 - Racine, MO Tornado

Tim, Seth, Rob, David and I sat down in a cool coffee shop today just to catch up and talk about something besides work and disasters. Our plan was to get some coffee, have a good dinner, I would get back to my computer to take care of emails, and the guys would go see a movie. I usually always have my laptop with me so as we were at the coffee shop I noticed weather reports were coming in about multiple tornado warnings and watches. A tornado had just touched down a few hours away on the border of MO and OK. With one eye on the computer and the other on a map, it was not long before our planned day of rest was over. We headed to the hotel, grabbed our bags, started the trucks, and headed out.

Just a few short hours later we arrived in Newton County, MO, around 11 pm. We pulled over at a small gas station to look at a map and talk to some local people when a fire fighter came up to my truck. He explained that just up the road was his firehouse. They just called off the search and rescue for the night due to downed power lines everywhere but there were still houses and debris blocking their way into town.

We drove a few miles up the road to the firehouse, introduced ourselves, and explained how we could help. The firefighters were so happy we were there and explained the challenges they were having getting through the debris. I decided to head down to the emergency manager’s office to introduce myself to the man in charge (whose name I won’t give.). I always find out who is in charge. In some cases it’s the fire chief, sheriff, or mayor but in this case the county had an emergency manager. I introduced myself, explained what I had been told by the fire department in Racine, and let him know what resources were available to him free of charge.

For the next eight hours he had me wait there and kept saying, “I’ll call you when I need you.” I attempted to get his attention on two separate occasions and explained how the fire department in Racine was in need of our help – but since he was in charge of the county’s emergency management I was not going to do anything without his permission. He finally said he and his people did not want any help. I thanked him for his time, shook his hand, and wished him luck. I left the county offices and returned to the Racine fire department to tell everyone of the emergency manager’s decision. Everyone was sad because help was badly needed.

As we were saying our goodbyes, one of the firemen got a call on his cell phone. Someone from his family was found dead in one of the homes, and he broke down in tears. I was so upset that we could not help there but I had to respect the wishes of the local government leaders. The team followed my lead, and we started the trucks and headed out of town to a neighboring city that got hit by the same tornado. Though I was upset I knew there was a job for us to do – if it was not in this town, it would be in the next one.

We arrived in Picher, OK, by 3 pm. The road was blocked but the police officer called the fire department explaining that help had arrived. Two hours later we were escorted in to the city by the fire department. They provided us a place to park all of our equipment right in the heart of town next to the fire house where it would be safe and watched 24 hours a day. We then began talks with the city mayor and fire chief about where our equipment was needed the most.

May 9, 2008 - A Rest

The nearest city is Springfield, MO. We just arrived and are going to stay here until our next response. This may be a good place to get some laundry done, get some good food, and hopefully the men can get some rest. There are a few things we need to repair on the equipment, which we will get done tomorrow in the morning.

May 3, 2008 - Ava, MO Tornado

The drive to Ava, MO, was not as easy as we thought. Most of the roads were windy and mountainous. We arrived in Ava around 12:30 this morning. The town was as dark as could be. We found the streets surrounding the nursing home and walked them by foot with flashlights. We had to make sure that the roads were big enough and the trees were cut back enough to bring our tractor trailers through and also that we could get close enough to the nursing home.

All the nurses and many of the patients were congregated in the darkness in the dining room. It was the coolest room in the building on this hot summer night. When Tim walked in to find out who was in charge and the nurses found out we were there with the generator, he was bombarded with hugs. It turns out the Red Cross told them we were coming, and they were anticipating our arrival.

Earlier in 2008, we added a 230KW multi-output generator to our fleet specifically for the purpose of powering up hospital emergency rooms, nursing homes, and other emergency and governmental buildings. At this point I’m glad we did. The facility property manager, Steve Wilkerson, and his wife, Angie, greeted us. Over the next few days we were able to get to know Steve, Angie and many others at the nursing home as we came to power up their nursing home as well as pull some of the very large trees off their property. At times I would see our cameraman David playing a piano in the dining room while singing along with residents of the nursing home surrounding him in their wheelchairs.

May 2, 2008 - Damascus, AR Tornado

What a long day. I woke up at 3 am watching weather patterns and listening to local and national news. There were so many threats of tornados, and one after another they started coming down from the clouds in multiple states. There were many along the Missouri and Arkansas border but it was hard to tell how severe they were.

Around 8 am I spoke to someone at the emergency management offices for the state of Arkansas, and they confirmed that the city of Damascus had been severely hit. The equipment was packed in the trucks and ready to roll since we just finished the clean up in Des Arc the night before. We said our goodbyes to Sandra and the judge and headed out of town. Three hours later we arrived in Damascus. There was no way to block off the disaster zone because a main highway ran right through Damascus so it was easy for us to pull directly into the area. We parked our trucks on the side of the highway, and the men began to unload the equipment. The reports I was getting from the emergency managers on site were that three people had been killed and everyone else had been accounted for. Considering what the place looked like, this was good news.

As we were unloading the equipment from the trucks, my phone suddenly rang. Somehow a small town Red Cross representative got my number. The person on the other line went on to explain they got my number from emergency officials in AR, and they were in desperate need of a generator. Two adult communities and one nursing home had been hit by a tornado in Ava, MO. An estimated 87 people were gathering at the nursing home, and the town had no power. There were people on critically important breathing machines and other life-sustaining equipment, and they had no money to rent a generator large enough for the facility.


Standing in the rubble I had to make a decision. The situation in Damascus was bad but the search and rescue had been completed, and people were out of the rubble and safe now. The people of Ava, MO, needed power – some of them for machines that could save their lives. I decided to head north to Ava.

April 28, 2008 - Des Arc, AR Floods

Our first task in Des Arc was to clean up a few neighborhoods of mobile homes along the river. The floodwaters at this point have receded by 60 percent. The roads were open just enough for us to get in with the equipment. Because the flood levels stayed up for so long everything in these homes was extremely heavy, stinky and molded. Many of the citizens could not even get things like couches out of their houses because they were so heavy. We helped in any way we could and found the people to be very thankful. They would say things like, “We have no clue what we would have done if you had not come. Our belongings would have stayed here for months in all these homes.”

We are going to be here for a few days. There are many homes and neighborhoods to help out in. The water came in so far in some areas it’s unbelievable. There is a judge in this small town, and it sounds as if he’s regarded as an unofficial mayor. He owns the nicest restaurant around, which is on a riverboat. He treated the Team and I to dinner, and we had a great time eating and talking with the local government and emergency leaders as well as many people from the community.

April 27, 2008 - Des Arc, AR Floods

Des Arc, AR, is only 4 hours south of Norfork. This city was our first stop with the rescue boat when the floods began four weeks ago. But for some reason the floodwaters at Des Arc did not recede much; the area is low so the water stays stagnant. When the rivers rose a second time, it only brought the water higher. Today, floodwaters finally began to recede.

We arrived very late tonight and were greeted by Sandra Patterson, County Emergency Operator Center Director. She was so thankful we were there to help their community. Small towns have small budgets and not much equipment in the municipality except two trucks and some small road repair equipment.

There were no hotels within 40 miles so Sandra offered us an old hunting cabin to stay in. It turns out it was where she and her husband were staying as well. Tim, Seth, Dave and I crashed in a room full of bunk beds. I’m having a hard time sleeping tonight because there are so many reports of potential tornados. We will finish what we came here to do but I always want to be aware of potential large deadly tornados happening elsewhere.

April 25, 2008 - Norfork, AR Floods

We have decided to head back to Norfork, AR. It’s been only two weeks since we finished cleaning up flood debris from almost 100 homes in Norfork, and now, two short weeks later, those homes flooded again – but this time the flooding was worse than before. Reports indicate the water rose two feet higher, causing even more damage.

Before we left two weeks ago, the First Response Team and Norfork Fire Department went out to dinner. We bonded quickly while working together to help the people in the community, so when Norfork flooded again there was no question in our mind that we should return to help.

It was strange to go back and see many of the same faces and houses again. But this time instead of removing wet rugs, furniture and personal belongings, it was new sheetrock insulation and furniture destroyed by the floods. It was sad to see the progress made in the two previous weeks destroyed. I can’t imagine the disappointment these people must be facing, and I hope us coming back to clean up the same mess again will encourage them to not give up.

April 5, 2008 - Norfork, AR Floods

This morning we met with the fire chief at the firehouse at 4:45 a.m. There were no incoming phone calls from the 911 Coordinator or the Army Corp, so by 9:00 a.m. we made a few phone calls and confirmed that the high alert threat was over. The threat of potential flood waters hitting the community for a second time was over. This was a huge relief considering that this small community was severely damaged just two weeks earlier.

At this point many of the citizens were visiting the firehouse, curiously intrigued by this great big black grapple truck and hovercraft in front of the firehouse – an odd sight to see in this small rural town. Once the citizens of Norfork heard that we were here to help remove all the furniture, sheetrock, and various debris from their houses, they were so happy. We got to work immediately and within two days we were able to clean up all 80 homes. Even I was surprised at how fast we were able to clean up these neighborhoods. Baxter County sent out 14 local dump trucks that Tim was able to load. One after the other, Tim loaded each truck only taking a few minutes each.

It didn’t take long to grow close to this community. So many people came out and talked with us and the local heroes—their firemen. I was so moved by the fire department in Norfork. It was clearly evident by their actions how much they cared about their citizens. They had already worked tirelessly for weeks after the first flood, removing damaged household goods and sheetrock, and piling it by the roadside. They had also pumped 97,000 gallons of water through the houses, washing the mud out by hand.

Disaster Recovery Solutions’ First Response Team then came to do a job that needed special equipment that this county lacked. Debris had begun to smell so bad through the neighborhoods it was becoming a health hazard and many wells began to test positive for e coli.

Exhausted by the enormity of the work we collectively completed, we all went out for a big steak dinner Saturday night. To express his sincere gratitude, one of the homeowners whose houses we cleaned up gave $1,000 dollars for the first responders to eat out. As Tim and I stood in the parking lot that night, and it was time to say goodbye to the fire chief and his team of heroes, we began to realize how quickly we’d grown to be part of this family. I never thought hugs would be in order with this group, but they clearly were. I never imagined that a bond of brotherhood could develop in such a short period of time and that we could develop such a close bond with new friends. But then again, not much surprises me anymore.

I’m glad we were able to help Norfork AR. I’m hopeful that we will all meet again someday. I’m thankful for our new friends.

April 4, 2008 - Norfork, AR Floods

So here I sit, on this wood floor, in an old ballroom in the hills of Arkansas. The only place for me to spend a few hours and get out of the rain is this community center in a small town called Norfork. This cold room looks just like one in an old black and white movie where a small town would gather on a Friday night for a community dance…just one big room with a wooden floor, two bathrooms and a make shift kitchen. We came to this small city to do something so simple: remove everything from one hundred homes destroyed by the floods two weeks ago. It’s become a routine and simple task for us to remove rugs, furniture, cars, and mud. It would just take a few days with aggressive equipment, where it would take this small city a month with its resources.

But today there was more to do than just clean up debris, which is what we came here to do. We had to work with the local fire department to warn of potential flooding in the community again.

You will often find in disasters that the person in charge is the one who picks up the responsibility. It does not matter if there is a mayor, police chief, sheriff or fire chief, when these storms come in and destroy homes, even the person who is suppose to be in charge gets shocked to see the only place he has ever called home destroyed – as well as his own family and friends killed.

In this case the man in charge was Fire Chief Frankie Baker. From my first impression Frankie is a simple man, humble and reserved, but when the pressure is on, Chief Baker knows how to call the shots. It is easy to see how his volunteers trust him and why they would follow him into a burning home.

Frankie’s task at hand is great. I was introduced to him because he is the one in charge of the cleanup of the flood disaster debris. After touring the community, I sat with him and his crew in the firehouse presenting and explaining the best plan of action for a complete cleanup of debris, lifting the spirits of all as cleanup begins.

As we laid out the strategic plan, 911 Director Tom Fisher, who is second in command to the county judge, walks into the room. The mood changed rapidly as he began to outline new weather-related developments. Just north of the small city are two dams. Norfork Dam is holding back 500 miles of shore, and Bulscholds Dam holds back another 800 miles of shore. Tom explained, “The water is at the floodgates, gentlemen. We are expected to get 4-6 inches of rain in the next two days but if we just get two of those inches the dams will not be able to withstand the pressure, and the floodgates will need to be let open. Norfork will experience flooding worse than what just came through. The Army Corp of Engineers will alert us when two inches of water comes and will only be able to provide our city one hour to evacuate. After that…it will be too late.”

We all agreed the best thing to do was to go to all the communities along the river and inform them of what is expected. Tim, Chief Baker and I jumped in an ambulance and announced like a broken record to one house after the other, “Gather your belongings, jewelry, titles, valuables…get them in your car and evacuate if you want to play it safe. If the rain comes, Norfork could get flooded again and all the homes along the river could be affected.” We also explained that if the Corp opens the floodgates people in their homes along the river would only have one hour to evacuate.

The first few houses went okay. One gentleman who was so old and fragile said, “Can you help me get some of my things to higher ground? I’m too weak to get outside. It’s so cold, and I’m not well.” We helped him with whatever he needed. When the fire chief and I got to the fourth house we were invited into the hallway—the wallpaper straight from the 1970’s—and while standing in the dim light, we warned the occupant of the potential flooding that may happen again. For a split second I wondered what it would be like to have a place I called home for 45 years, and the thought of all I had and had ever held close potentially being destroyed. I could only imagine, and then my mind got caught up again in the job at hand.

The chief explained that many of the roads were washed out and said the only way to warn some of these people was via the river and a loud bull horn. We told Frankie this was his community, his people, and whatever he needed us to do we would do.

All of my equipment is here in Norfork. Fire Chief Baker, and his men and women, are glad we are here to help. If the warning turns into reality we will deploy our hovercraft into the river to warn all the adjacent homes that the final evacuation must take place. Since there will only be one final hour and four small cities exists along the river that need to be warned, traveling upstream toward the dams will be our best and fastest method. Cells phones do not work well here, and there is no guarantee of power lines or landline phones working. The chief says the river will be the fastest route. I hooked the hovercraft to Chief Baker’s four-wheel drive truck. If this event takes place the roads will wash out. Those who do not make it out of their neighborhoods in time will need to be rescued.

One of my dear friends told me a beautiful story a few days ago. He was putting his 3-year-old daughter to sleep and just when she could hardly keep her eyes open she said, “I love you daddy,” and softly drifted to sleep as her beautiful little face rested against his neck. He said, “Tad, words cannot explain how special that moment meant to me. It will stay in my heart for an eternity. And someday, you and your men will save lives so that some dad can experience one of the most special moments in his life just as I did that night…and that one life will make everything you do worth it.”

May we always have strength to persevere in life. To endure the challenges, but even more so, to look forward to those moments when you can say to yourself it’s good to be alive. Someday again soon, the sun will rise on this small town, and the skies will be so blue and beautiful. As for now, I feel we have given this community an opportunity to evacuate but my hope is that the rain holds back and the community does not flood again.

April 3, 2008 - Norfolk, AR Floods

We stayed in Clarendon for about a week until the river situation was stabilized. We had a chance to work closely with the officials in charge, monitor the levees, keep looters away from all the homes that were under water, and help with water pumping when the levees had small seepage.

Reports were coming in from another struggling community about eight hours away. I have not yet decided how many storms I will respond to this year. At some point I am going to have to get back and focus on my for-profit contracting company but for now we are not that far away – and I hear the town has lost up to 100 homes.

I want to do something with my life besides just working, making money, and living the American Dream. Don’t get me wrong…I would love to have a home and a decent car to drive but I want something a little more than that – something money can’t buy. I know there is something more in this life than just working and making money, and I want to find out what that is. For now I’m just going to keep doing what it is I’m doing here. Creating the First Response Team with specialized equipment, technology and staffing. Why? Because it needs to be done. From what I can tell so far we are the only ones doing it and communities in America need this kind of help.

I hope I never lose the passion to live a life worth living, to be a part of something so much greater than myself, to invest in funds that never lose their value…a Wall Street in the clouds if I could be so dreamy.

March 26, 2008 - Clarendon, AR Floods

From what we could tell on the news, Arkansas was getting ready to get hit with some major flooding. At this point I had already been working with a specialized company in Eau Claire, MI, who would design us a specialized hovercraft for water rescues. Hovertechnics agreed to have the boat ready within 24 hours. This special boat has the ability to hover off the ground, allowing us to travel raging rivers, glide safely across iced-over lakes, and patrol and perform rescues in flooded downtown communities reaching those trapped in their homes. Boat ramps aren’t the norm in flooded communities so to compensate for this undeniable challenge the hovercraft will be able to float over asphalt roads, gravel, and grassy fields.

We spent months consulting with some of New York’s best fire chiefs and thanks to Steve Lebretto, Mattituck NY Fire Chief, and Captain Joseph Frohnhoefer, President of Sea Tow International, we were able to strategize on the best unit to perform water rescues in many unknown conditions in the unpredictable disaster zones of the United States.

We seeing reports about a small city in Arkansas called Clarendon and surrounding Monroe County. We arrived in Clarendon to learn that the town geographically is a soup bowl surrounded by raging rivers and lakes with nothing to hold back the “sea of terror” but a dirt wall. In many aspects it reminds me of New Orleans. The small rural town is lower than the surrounding waters but kept dry through engineered levees. But these levees are not as sophisticated as the tall concrete ones I have seen in New Orleans. These are simply dirt. If a small muskrat decided to dig a whole 2 inches big, within 10 minutes the city would be under water.

If you were to look at a map you would find the Cash and White Rivers funneling directly into the city. As I stand on the wall of dirt, below me is this quaint little American town, with schools letting out and kids riding their bikes down Main Street…but behind me is a river that is already 6.4 feet above flood stage. In 1973, a flood destroyed this town when the river rose to 35 feet. Presently the river is at 32.4 feet.

This afternoon the Team and I sat down with County Judge Larry Morris and Allen James, the president of the Levee Board. Judge Larry was openly nervous about what could happen to this community over the next three days as the rivers continued to crest and explained that 6 other housing communities were already under water in the county. Time stood still for just a moment in this old catfish diner. Here I was in this small restaurant, with walls full of pictures of local fishermen proudly displaying their prize catfish, and large glass windows where you could see Main Street folks carrying on with their daily small town lives.

I asked the judge questions for the next 45 minutes and then presented a disaster preparedness plan for the city and county. I explained that we had a dirt bike equipped with GPS and a Satellite phone. We could use the dirt bike to scout the 6.2-mile levy that surrounds the city 24 hours a day. We could alert the police department of any breaches so they could evacuate the community if needed.

I also explained how we could use the hovercraft to monitor the outside of the levy as well as visit all the homes succumbing to the water for possible evacuations.

I also offered the use of an 1800-gallon per minute water and trash pump, which should be positioned so that if the levees were breached we could begin pumping immediately.

Next, we had to address water rescues. Neither the city nor the counties were armed with proper equipment to handle water rescues. The county judge recommended I meet the sheriff, who rerouted 911 water rescue calls to us. Sheriff Barry Henard and Byrl Shaw, the Officer of Emergency Services and a former Lieutenant Colonel in the military, welcomed us and expressed thankfulness for us being here with them through this difficult time.

We toured six housing communities that were under water—thankfully the homes were all empty. We will continue to monitor these communities in case homeowners try to access their flooded property before floodwaters receded. We will also be working with Sheriff Barry to monitor the waterways and patrol for looters trying to burglarize flooded homes.

The atmosphere is full of so many emotions. There has already been great loss in Monroe County but there is also a sense of fear and anxiety in the air. We are here, and we are not going anywhere. My hope is that the six communities that are already under water will be all the loss this county suffers. We will monitor the levees and will be ready to pump the water out if any breaches occur – but it is my hope that’s as far as this disaster will go.

March 15, 2008 - Flood Season is Here

Spring is here and the flooding is beginning in the middle part of our country. So far, the idea of a rescue boat and water pump as part of the First Response Team has just been an idea. But the floods are upon us, and I believe if we have this equipment as a permanent part of the First Response Team we can respond quickly to not only open up roads but also to rescue people from their homes. We can even use the high powered pump to empty water out of buildings the city really needs to begin again, such as hospitals or town halls. We can’t help unless we are equipped, and we can’t respond quickly unless the equipment is on the trucks with us. It’s time to add this equipment to our resources.

February 28, 2008 - Prattville, AL Tornado

We have been in Prattville for over a week. From what we are being told from the local government, the National Guard will not bring in any equipment and FEMA has decided to show no support. The First Response Team has been working side by side with the local municipality workers and whatever equipment they have available to them. There is no doubt that we have made significant progress in this community. Thanks to Edward we also have a hotel room to sleep in, which we are very thankful for.

Today I was talking with someone, and I noticed a sophisticated looking man out of the corner of my eye, leaning up against his recent model pickup truck. He walked up to me and tried to speak but his lip began to quiver and nothing came out of his mouth. I knew he wanted to say something but because he was holding back his tears so hard nothing would come out. Finally the words came out of his mouth and with tears coming down his face he said, “That pile…that pile of my house…you cleaned it up for me. I can't tell you…you’ll never know how much it meant that you came and helped me. I feel like I can start again.” The man turned around immediately and walked back toward his truck and drove away. I don’t think I will ever have a chance to meet that man again. I don’t know who he was or which home site he lived on but I can’t help but be moved by what happened today.

I constantly find myself wondering what it is like for these people to lose everything. I’m not sure I will ever know until it happens to me but I do know I want to keep being here for these people and these communities as more disasters continue to happen in America. I wonder sometimes if it’s not necessarily what we do for these people but that something is happening…and happening quickly. It translates into that fact that it won’t be this way forever – progress is happening, people care, and the rebuilding process is beginning and will continue.

February 19, 2008 - Prattville, AL Tornado

This morning Edward set up a meeting between the mayor, his staff and myself. I was interested in putting a plan together that will speed up the process of opening up the roads and cleaning up the homes for the citizens of Prattville…which at this point would hopefully boost their wavering moral.

I recommended that the city provide me with as many dump trucks that were available to them from within their organization as well as surrounding counties. Within hours the Prentice loader operated by Tim Wolkowicz was loading dump truck after dump truck for the city free of charge. The grapple truck dwarfed every piece of equipment we were working with and the citizens were coming from everywhere wondering what all the commotion was. So many expressed their thanks as we went from house to house cleaning up what was left of their homes.

February 18, 2008 - Prattville, AL Tornado

Online reports indicated that 200 homes and 40 businesses were affected by another tornado. There was no indication whether the storm caused total destruction or whether the houses sustained minimal damage. The reports were inconclusive but from what we could gather the storm was bad so we decided it would be best for us to respond.

We arrived in Prattville, Alabama, eight hours later. The city was somewhat in a daze. Traffic was everywhere, and there was no heavy equipment brought in to help. The federal government provided no aid and the National Guard came with no equipment – just volunteers. We were the only ones who came with equipment to clean up the streets and neighborhoods. Within 30 minutes of my arrival I met the local leaders who were in charge. Edward Clinton, the Director of Solid Waste for Prattville, welcomed us into the city and within no time Disaster Recovery Solutions’ First Response Team was working side-by-side with the city workers and their limited equipment.

We began to open up roads within hours of our arrival but I was interested in finding out what resources this small community had to see if there was a way we could work together.

February 5, 2008 - Lafayette, TN Tornado

Tim and I were in PA working on the equipment. A local paint shop let us use their facility to take apart one of the CAT skid steers for some mechanical work and to give it a new paint job from damage it sustained from the CA wildfires of 2007. It would have taken about one week to go through the whole machine and get it ready for the 2008 storm season.

Even though we were taking some time to work on the equipment, we would still watch weather patterns in case something developed. We were not expecting anything big to happen so early in the year but then out of the blue there was a deadly outbreak of tornados. From what we could tell at that point it was one of the deadliest outbreak of tornados in TN history during the month of February. Many cities were hit with the same system but Lafayette seemed to be particularly devastated.

The problem was I had equipment in NY, PA, and TN, as well as some of the Cat equipment in pieces. Usually we could respond and depart within hours but this time was different: We needed about 24 hours. We knew we had to respond and that we had to move quickly. Tim worked through the day and night to get the CAT ready to roll, and I headed out to get the grapple truck fueled and ready. Twenty-four hours later we were on the road to TN. The trip was not easy. Tim was tired, and I was feeling run down. By the time we arrived in TN, I was feeling so sick Tim dropped me off at the local emergency room and headed on to scout out where we would be needed most.

There were so many areas hit by the tornados we first had to decide which city and state we should respond to first. Tim quickly found out that Lafayette was hit the worst, with 180 homes destroyed and 14 deaths. Tim later picked me up at the hospital – I had an advanced case of the flu – and we got a hotel room for a few hours of sleep. We arrived in Lafayette that next morning and spoke to some of the men and women in the emergency operations office. They asked if I would help in those who had lost homes and churches. We were given all access passes to anywhere in the city and was told of a neighborhood that had total loss. Upon arrival, we realized there was a church positioned right in the middle of the neighborhood that was destroyed.

Grace Baptist Church was built 25 years ago by the community. After speaking to a few neighbors, they informed me that Jerry Wix, the pastor who founded and built the church, lived just five houses up. I knocked on his door and his wife answered. I explained how I was from Long Island, New York, and was there to offer my help. We could take down the church, clean up the property, and of course, we would provide this help free of charge. She could not believe it and explained that her husband has been so upset. He had been crying and so anxious about what to do next. A few minutes later I met Mr. Wix, an older man in winter work clothes whose eyes were water logged from the past few days. Soft spoken, he was still in a state of shock. I explained that I was there to help him, his congregation, and his community. He did not know what to do but give me a hug, so I embraced him back. The pastor wondered how we could somehow save the steeple. Assuring him this would not be a problem, we agreed to demo the church along with any other houses in this community of people who we knew were in need.

We were so drained from our travel and from pressing forward in our desire to help those devastated by these tornados that I didn’t realize how sick I was becoming. I was weak beyond belief and finally had to admit it was more than exhaustion…I was coughing up blood. I later called the hospital to find out the results of my test. They said I had some kind of debilitating case of Influenza A–one I obviously ignored for a bit too long. The people in the community were so nice and were thankful for our help. But, before we knew it, another tornado struck south of us in Prattville, AL. This tornado destroyed more homes and businesses than had been destroyed in the TN town we were currently helping. Guess where we headed next!