Texas game wardens rescue 5000
Published: September 9, 2005
Texas Parks and Wildlife rescue teams have plucked 5,000 stranded New Orleans residents from their rooftops and homes, marking their first out-of-state mission in their 110-year history.
Texas last week sent 53 game wardens, 52 four-wheel drive vehicles, and 50 boats – seven of which were airboats – to Louisiana. In all, 111 of Texas’ 500 game wardens have gone to New Orleans.
“I was just so proud of our game wardens that work for Texas Parks and Wildlife who stepped up and went to another community and did what part they could to save lives,” said TPW Commissioner John Parker of Lufkin. “It speaks well of the caliber of men and women out there.”
These Texas lawmen engaged their outdoor knowledge and skills to help bring law and order to the anarchy of New Orleans as evacuees were pulled to safety.
“They stopped several men that had stolen a postal delivery truck,” Parker said.
Texas game wardens, established in Austin in 1895, are certified peace officers. They are also trained in flood rescue and water safety, said Capt. Donnie Puckett of Lufkin.
“We got orders to go,” Puckett said, “but had to create our own resources after we got there.”
The first team was dispatched on Aug. 30 to Gonzales, La., where Texas’ game wardens have stayed at a Methodist Church that furnished free hot meals and clean beds, Puckett said.
Their orders are handed down daily from their major in Baton Rouge, Puckett said.
The team commutes daily to its mission site on the east side of New Orleans, he said.
“We had several delays caused by sniper fire from looters that held up the convoy for two hours,” Puckett said.
“We were rescuing people by boat and air boat,” he said. ”
On Sept. 1, Puckett said, Texas game wardens rescued 1,500 patients from Charity Hospital and helped complete evacuation of Tulane and University hospitals.
“The wardens had to physically carry some of the patients out to boats and buses,” he said.
The next day, Texas game wardens focused on the government housing complex where streets had become canals filled with looting and gunfire.
“The airboats went in first,” Puckett said. “Each air boat had a gunner, a driver, and a New Orleans policeman.”
At the end of the day, they had evacuated seven truckloads of residents from government housing complex, he said.
In their first week, Texas game wardens worked 120 hours each. Among that first team was Heath Bragg of Angelina County and Chuck Cotton of Polk County. Ken Jackson of Nacogdoches County is assisting with the current team, he said.
“It was quite a sight,” Bragg said Thursday. “I’m just glad we were able to go help the people in New Orleans.”
While rescuers kept a running tally on the number of people removed, time and safety did not allow for recording of names and other personal information, Puckett said.
“Our priority was saving lives and getting them to the next phase of evacuation,” Puckett said.
TPW game warden director, Col. Peter P. Flores, was in Louisiana on Thursday and unavailable for comment.
However, Lt. Colonel Craig Hunter, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Division, said TPW game wardens were released from duty at noon Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hunter said, “Normal patrol and enforcement operations for hunting, fishing, and water safety continued throughout Texas during this time.”
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