Volunteers Gerald Rawlins and Ralph Jones salvage a washing machine from the smashed home of the Pat Patten family on Grove Street Friday morning. (Photo: Walter Geiger)
Help pours in
Clean-up efforts have gotten underway with earnest in the aftermath of Thursday's early morning tornado that devastated parts of Lamar County.
I stayed up all night of the storm and after the storm I came to this website for the newspaper.
I checked my emails and no orders were given for the GSDF to deploy, I took a quick recon of the areas i could see and fowarded a email to Major Surrusco with the Barnesville.com hyperlink and sent a copy of the number to for volunteers to call and your request for help.
I was mobilised immeadiately following that and was on the ground with Colonel Worthington and Lt Ritchie as fast as i could get there with our gear and in Uniform.
I praise the Sheriff and Local EMA for letting us help them and all of the Lamar County citizens and everyone else who fed and kept us going with Supplies.
I was proud to be one of the first there and last to leave at 6 am this morning.
Thank You to the Citizens and government of Lamar County and all who helped us do our mission to help you and feel free to call on us again.
CPL Sean Ross
The area you were attempting to access was closed/controlled to protect the property and privacy of those who suffered severe losses during this tragic event. Additionally, the high volume of traffic from the many well-intentioned volunteers and those who just wanted to see and take pictures of the damage would have obstructed or blocked residents, emergency personal, supplies and heavy-equipment from accessing the area.
For those like yourself, and other well-intentioned volunteers that wanted to help, an operations center was established at the entrance to Grove Street to allow volunteers to register their services. This registration allowed officials to coordinate the volunteers' efforts and tools and to shuttle them into the areas where their services were most needed.
So, while this may have been a minor inconvenience for you, I can assure you it was in the best interests of the victims and the community in general.
However, I count it an honor to be of assistance, and would hope to have the GSDF in my AO, should the tornadoes visit me in the future.
If you miss the comraderie of the service, and want to be of further assistance, join the Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF). For those who have never served in the Armed Forces, and are unable to due to health, family, or other reasons, the GSDF may be what you are looking for. About 1/2 of our members are prior service; from the minimum service time, to many retired military members, from all branches of the military. Our orders come from the highest levels of state government, as we are a branch of the state Dept. of Defense. See http://www.gasdf.com/index.html for official info.
Specifically to the OP, Law enforcement asked our Commanding Officers to keep everyone out who did not have official business within our AO. We were following orders. Law enforcement was concerned about looters and "looky-loos" who just wanted to gawk, but would be in the way. You may have training, but as a vet, you must understand our responsibility to obey orders. You also should remember standing guard duty, even if only in Basic, and the three General Orders. A sentry does not allow unauthorized individuals within the limits of their post.