W
hile the rest of Louisiana watched in horror, one St.
Bernard resident, Jared Serigné, posted on social
media that he was gathering details on flooded areas
and looking for anyone with boats to go and assist
where they could. Since I taught Jared in high school many years ago, I
began following his posts and his efforts to coordinate volunteers to
aid in rescuing residents who were trapped in their homes or stranded
in their vehicles along miles of flooded interstate.
Early Saturday morning, Jared packed up his boat and headed
north into the flooded area. When he was asked, “Why you?” his answer was simply, “Because I have a boat.” Jared knew authorities had
been dispatched, but he also knew that police, firefighters, and the
Coast Guard could not possibly handle the thousands in need of rescue, nor did they have the required number of boats and operators to
do the job. Jared says his response is typical of many in the hunting and
fishing community. “You can’t know you have a perfectly good boat for
this type of thing, the ability and expertise to navigate in these dangerous conditions, and just sit home and not help.” For the rest of the
weekend Jared and his crew of buddies ran rescue missions into neighborhoods in East Baton Rouge, picking up people who were praying
for a miracle in their flooded homes and vehicles, and dropping them
off to higher ground where