Dozens rescued by USS Tortuga crew

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06:15 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Reported by: Regina Mobley

(On the Gulf Coast) - Tuesday brings another day of search and rescue and relief efforts by military men and women from Hampton Roads.

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USS Tortuga will provide food and shelter for these evacuees.

The efforts continue with the crew of the Norfolk-based USS Tortuga, along with members of the 82nd Airborne and the U.S. Coast Guard as they move in to Louisiana to bring relief to the people.

The captain of USS Tortuga went to St. Bernard parish in east New Orleans, where it looked like the entire community was still together.

Many of the people there said they feel like they've been ignored and they said the first help they got was from a search and rescue crew from Canada and that, as of Monday, none of the people had seen representatives of FEMA or the Red Cross.

So, Capt. Mark H. Scovill took a small boat into St. Bernard parish and told the nervious and anxious people that the Navy was on the scene to help.

Needless to say, the people there are tattered and torn; they’re desperate and thankful for the help.

Tortuga's sailors are honored to serve, they’re enthusiastic and want to do everything they can to find people along the Mississippi River, less than a mile from water-logged New Orleans.

Navy SEALS from Little Creek also are helping in search and rescue.

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Boxer puppies aboard USS Tortuga

Evacuees could look forward to warm food, a bed and a hot shower.

Some of those coming on board are four-footed survivors, including a litter of Boxer puppies. A makeshift kennel was being made to accomodate man's best friends.

As of 11:30 p.m. Monday, the Tortuga's crew had rescued dozens of New Orleans disaster victims. A message on the ship's Web site said, "So stay tuned, and rest assured -- TORTUGA and her crew is safe and sound tonight...so are many of our fellow Americans as a result of the ship's efforts to get the job done."

There are six Hampton Roads-based ships conducting relief operations along the Gulf Coast. They are USS Tortuga, USS Iwo Jima, USS Shreveport, USS Grapple, USS Bataan and USS Theodore Roosevelt.

USS Bataan is in its eighth day of humanitarian relief efforts. As of Monday, the two helicopter squadrons have transported 1,613 displaced people and delivered more than 100,000 pounds of cargo.

Bataan also provided 8,000 gallons of fresh drinking water to the ravished Gulfport, Miss., area. Sailors filled eight 500-gallon water bladders with the ship’s potable water and HM-15’s MH-53 helicopters transported them from Bataan to shore.