Tuesday is a lot like Monday...

Tuesday is a lot like Monday, except that I now know my way around a bit better, and have some early versions of process documents (and action item tracking) in place. With the continued growth, it becomes clear that the tools trucks (which we have borrowed from the county government) are going to have to support even more teams than they have in the past. We contact some local carpenters, and have them retro-fit the trailers to support 20 teams (up from 15 teams) per trailer. It will take all week to complete the work on the six trailers that we have, and I will need that time to also locate another two trucks, so that each trailer can be in the field the following week (during the week I was there, we only used 3 trucks & 3 trailers (plus big-red)).

It becomes clear that a number of the tools are now missing. It's not clear whether they were simply left behind at the work sites, swept out along with the debris at the homes, stolen by others working in the neighborhoods, or broken & thrown out. I implement a tools inventory tracking system, and have the tools teams fully stock their trailers before leaving Tuesday AM, and complete an inventory tracking form before re-stocking at the end of the day. This process should go a long way to helping ensure that each trailer can fully support the growing number of teams.

FEMA is not wanting the site to grow, so it is not yet clear what will happen with all of the volunteers who have already signed up for next week. There are not enough cots & the site is not approved for the number of people coming, but we continue planning for all of the volunteers and need to ensure that each truck and the tools process is in place to support the maximum number.

Over the radio that I use to stay in contact with the tools trucks (and any of the field teams that might need us), I hear many calls each day regarding many of the items that the teams are finding. Many homes with 'natural gas odors', causing the utility companies to be called to show up on site to ensure everything is off. Mercury or other toxic chemicals found, causing the fire department to show up onsite (at all times, we had a number of fire teams in the field along with our cleaning teams, ensuring their safety, etc.). I was also surprised at the number of weapons & ammunition that was being found each day (causing yet another agency to show up at the site to safely remove everything). Although, I guess I should not have been surprised, considering the fact that EVERYTHING these people owned was often left behind in the rush to evacuate.

Another long night spent preparing for the next day, and continued process improvement. Here are a few random shots that I took throughout the town...