I have been watching the news, and my view is that the best boats would
be the larger (16 foot or more) outboard motor boats. Air boats have
also been used. You would probably want a crew of two people, and be
able to safely carry 4 or more victims. I heard that there are a bunch
of volunteers using their fishing boats for that purposes. Bass fishing
boats are very common in the south, and should be well suited to rescue
work. Bass boats have outboards, and are frequently used near shore
around obstacles such as submerged trees.

I don't think that canoes, kayaks, or other small boats are the right
tools for the job of rescue, in general. Don't carry enough, and are
too slow. Obviously I would use my own canoe to rescue myself and
family, if I was in the affected area, but I think that the distances
from the launch point to the victims could be quite a few miles. The
other problem with canoes, etc., is that they could easily tip over when
loading victims, who cannot be assumed to be wise to the ways of small
boats.

Kayaks and canoes for rescue is a nice idea, but not practical.

Richard



Chicago Paddling-Fishing wrote:
Hi;

Any folks down near New Orleans?

I got a email from someone from the Army at USAISC-FT McPherson in Georgia
looking for boats and people... (not sure they realize just how small my
kayaks are but I suppose distributing food would be ok if you have a big
enough canoe)

Would need a bunch of folks though to make a difference...