Photo By Senior Master Sgt. William Buchanan | Specialist Brandon Moorley, military police for the 715th Military Police Company, and...... read more read more
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Orlando, Fla. - Guardsmen from around the state secure and manage the Auxillary Staging Area for truckers rushing to deliver supplies for Hurricane Irma relief in Orlando, Sept. 13, 2017.
An incredible influx of tractor-trailers following the catastrophic storm necessitated the State Logistical Response Center to open this temporary space to streamline supply deliveries.
“It’s like a truck stop,” said Capt. Todd Morris, 727th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion intelligence officer. "Orlando doesn’t have many truck stops, if any. We had to make due with non-traditional spaces.”
FEMA, American Red Cross and civilian contractors all process through the ASA. Trucks enter through an entry control point where Guardsmen identify who the driver is with and whether they are picking up or dropping off supplies. Once inside, truckers standby until they are assigned a mission.
Airman 1st Class Kara Fredrickson, 125th Force Support Squadron services apprentice, said missions she sees coming through the exit control point are to churches, high schools and shelters. These are the primary places for delivering food, water and medical supplies.
"Once they get a mission, they come through the exit,” Fredrickson said. “We look at their mission packet. We make sure their numbers are correct, where they’re going is correct and we sign off."
During previous activations, the members of the SLRC discovered having too many drivers slowed down deliveries. Trying to solve one logistical problem created another as hundreds of semi-trucks poured in day after day. To prevent these trucks from clogging the streets and causing traffic jams, the SLRC opened the ASA.
“When you have all of these truckers show up at one time, it’s chaos,” Morris said. “You can’t have all these trucks flowing through the normal business area.”
More than 1,000 Soldiers and Airmen are operating at 14 Points of Distribution throughout the state, including the Orlando SLRC and various other Logistics Staging Areas to ensure that we get supplies quickly to those who need them.
Supplies the SLRC provides include: water, food, generators, light kits, chainsaws, coolers, fans, towels, diapers, hygiene products and anything you can imagine you need when a hurricane hits.
“It’s a hodgepodge between a CVS, a hotel and a Home Depot,’ Morris said.
Fredrickson said some days there may be 400 trucks coming through. Other days, there may be just 50. Either way, Guardsmen continue to run 24-hour operations until the mission is complete.
“I feel proud to be here to help with Hurricane Irma,” Fredrickson said. “There’s people out there that have lost everything. So, just simply transporting these trucks are saving people’s lives, and I try to keep that in perspective."
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2017 11:33 |
| Story ID: | 248397 |
| Location: | ORLANDO, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 199 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Florida Guardsmen keep Hurricane Irma relief supplies flowing, by SMSgt William Buchanan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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