The Big Easy Hummingbird

As told to Georgina Hunter-Jones by Capt. Charles Priestley

An operator's view of the relief effort in New Orleans after Katrina.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has a network of operators," explained Charlie Priestley of Hummingbird Helicopter Service in Connecticut, in answer to how he happened to be called in to help after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana. "We are one of the few operators that have a hoist on their helicopter, so I took the S-58 and leased a Bell 205 from a private operator. We expected to be there for two weeks, but we were still there six months later."

Charlie and his crew of six people and two helicopters arrived about two days after the hurricane. "We came down through Tennessee," he said, "and had bad weather through Mississippi. Hattiesburg was our final fuel stop and then on to Baton Rouge, the FEMA assembly point. There was no electricity, no sanitation. People had bought cases of water with them, granola bars and anything they could find.

Although Baton Rouge had no electricity it was otherwise OK. We slept in the fire training academy, which had showers, and being on the airfield made getting off in the morning very quick.

A week later we were allowed to use the prison airfield, 10 minutes flying time to the north, and...