Photo By Brian Godette | Marcus Bostic, a resident of Eastover, S.C., and a firefighter for the city of...... read more read more
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EASTOVER, S.C. – Just a week after historic rainfall caused severe flooding in South Carolina, devastating lives, cities, and infrastructure, the examples witnessed across the state and in Eastover, Oct. 13, are neighbors helping neighbors.
The South Carolina National Guard and emergency services departments throughout South Carolina began helping their citizens immediately, and in a show of unity, camaraderie and support, have received assistance from their neighbors to the North, the North Carolina National Guard and others.
“This is our neighboring state, and we should want to help everybody,” said Spc. Yazmaine Chand-Singh, assigned to the Forward Support Company, 505th Engineer Battalion. “If somebody needs help, that’s what we are here for.”
There are 2,541 National Guard assets on the ground, which includes engineer support from North Carolina, and more than 40 State Guard members. Soldiers from the NCNG 505th Engineer Battalion took to local roads to begin assisting local residents traverse safer on the flood-damaged areas.
“All the roads have washed out due to the significant amount of rainfall that the area has received, so we are doing a hasty road repair so residents can at least get in and out of their homes until the D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) can get out here and fix it,” said Staff Sgt. Jack Gray, noncommissioned officer in-charge, assigned to the 882nd Engineer Company (Vertical), 505th Engineer Battalion.
The call to assist South Carolina, and the SCNG, who are humbled by the aid, was an easy call for Gray.
“We all signed up to support and defend our country, and this is one of the ways we can support our country,” Gray said.
Gray found himself in familiar territory working on the roads in South Carolina, and uses his experience to impact the Soldiers he has in the field with him on this important mission.
“I myself am a 15 year veteran of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, so this is the type of work I do for a living, and in turn I try to pass that knowledge down to my Soldiers,” Gray said.
In the wake of destruction, there were Soldiers who were happy, happy to help.
“I was excited when I got the orders for State Active Duty, because doing this makes me feel better, helping other people out,” Chand-Singh said.
“I’ve done more now doing stateside deployment then I’ve done overseas during my mission in Kuwait,” Chand-Singh said. “Everything is hands-on here, helping the people, and getting things done.”
The gravity of helping those at home, working together with local authorities was held with great significance to the citizen-Soldiers of the National Guard, who can at anytime find themselves on the other end of a natural disaster.
“This is the eighth or ninth State Active Duty I’ve done, and every time we’ve made a significant impact,” Gray said. “The local authorities, fire departments, police departments and DOT, can become overwhelmed, so we try to do the best we can.”
The engineers arrived to an intersection in Eastover where the roads were crumbling and huge craters created no way of passing travel.
One home just off one of the roads belonged to a family who happened to be outside when the engineers arrived with their equipment, standing near a 20 foot-long ditch that used to be their driveway.
“That first night it started and things got really bad, the damaged to my driveway happened,” said Marcus Bostic, a resident of Eastover and firefighter with the city of Columbia.
“Thankfully my wife woke me up, and I was able to move all my cars back to the farther end of the property, and as I got closer that’s when I realized there was a gigantic trench going through my driveway,” Bostic said.
Gray assured the family his team would do what they can to help the Bostic family with their driveway before the day was over.
“When the dirt gets here we can start doing the actual repairs on the wash-out areas, like this gentleman’s driveway, so they can be more mobile,” Gray said.
As Mr. Bostic looked on as the engineers began work on the nearby road, he began to recount the days during the flooding, from the standpoint of a local first responder.
“It was bad,” Bostic said. “It was just so much at one time, your just asking yourself, what do you do first?”
“Me doing my job as a fireman, you never really see tragedy in your own home, you always know what to do if something happens, I don’t have to call 911, because I know what to do,” Bostic said.
The historic flooding which devastated South Carolina proved to be a far different scenario.
“A natural disaster affects everybody, and you look at it and go, now who’s going to help me?” Bostic said. “Now that you guys are out here, it’s good to see some reciprocation. You give, give, give, so actually it’s a real good feeling.”
As Mr. Bostic spoke, 10-ton dump trucks rumbled down the road. The dirt was dumped and a Case Skid Steer Loader, similar to a small bulldozer, was used to push it across the road and compact it, smoothing out the rough road.
“We haven’t been able to drive our cars out since that happened,” Bostic said. “It’s been over a week since I’ve drove my car.”
With the help of the engineers from the NCNG 505th Engineer Battalion, Bostic and his family will have use of their driveway again.
The image of neighbors from the North, companions on the road to help others, was clear in South Carolina.
“I appreciate you guys and thank you for what you,” Bostic said. “As a firefighter, people always look up to me, so when it comes time for someone to help me out, I give the same appreciation I get.”
| Date Taken: | 10.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2015 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 178864 |
| Location: | EASTOVER, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 397 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Neighbors helping neighbors: NCNG engineers assist SC citizens, by Brian Godette, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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