Editorial: Nevadans answer call

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

President Bush took to the airwaves Thursday afternoon to warn people living in the path of Hurricane Rita that it is "really important for all citizens to follow the instructions of local authorities." Most people were understanding of that advice, as could be seen by the bumper-to-bumper traffic, stretching for miles, heading out of the coastal cities of Texas and Louisiana. Millions of people were under evacuation orders in the two states as reports were arriving by the minute that the 400-mile-wide hurricane was holding steady as a Category 4 with wind speeds of between 140 and 150 mph.

With images of Hurricane Katrina still embedded in the national consciousness, though, emergency planners know for sure there will be people left behind, despite the planes and hundreds of buses that are joining the exodus loaded with disabled people and those who do not have their own transportation. The managers are vowing to be much more prepared than they were for Hurricane Katrina. Truckloads of food and water are being moved into position. National Guardsmen are being mobilized. And other states, including Nevada, are sending help.

A crew of 30 Nevadans, specialists in medical aid and search and rescue operations in urban areas, departed Wednesday for San Antonio, which is about 200 miles due west of the island city of Galveston and about 280 miles southwest of Beaumont. These two Texas cities, located near southwestern Louisiana, are likely to receive the storm's initial fury. The greater Houston area, with a population of more than 5 million, is only about 50 miles northwest of Galveston. A low-lying city that is right at sea level in some places, Houston is extremely susceptible to flooding. Expected to arrive by late Friday or early Saturday, the Nevadans in San Antonio, most of them Clark County firefighters, will be positioned to go wherever they are needed most. Many of them are hurricane battle-hardened, having just recently returned to Las Vegas from duty in New Orleans.

They are expected to be in the area about two weeks, time enough to show the world a country whose people pull together in times of crisis.