Regiment Soldiers Help After Hurricane Ernesto

August 18, 2024 | 1 Comment

Over 100 soldiers from Royal Bermuda Regiment were mobilized to help assist during Hurricane Ernesto.

A spokesperson said, “Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers who were deployed on clean-up efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ernesto felt a sense of purpose as they helped return the island to normalcy.

“About 125 RBR personnel were mobilised on Friday and were based at five locations: Warwick Camp, the Emergency Measures Organisation’s operations centre, Southside Police Station, the emergency shelter at CedarBridge Academy and the Coast Guard base at Scenic House in Sandys.

“Troops on the ground were split into Immediate Response Teams, each covering different parts of the island after the Category 1 hurricane hit.”

Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Simons explained: “The IRT at Southside, St David’s, had a boat from the Coast Guard with them, so they launched that to assist Public Works with the inspection of the Causeway. That IRT was later dispatched to the airport to clear the runway for Skyport so that flights can arrive.”

“The Coast Guard has been out doing welfare checks and assessing the state of the maritime environment.” We’ve also had teams on buses assisting the public transport department to make sure their routes are cleared.”

Soldiers started clean-up work when conditions allowed on Saturday and were back at it from early on Sunday.

Lt Col Simons added: “It’s good to be out in public meeting a need, I think that’s valued. It’s not such a severe storm that we’re going to be out for days, helping in neighbourhoods – the scale of assistance is not going to be as prolonged – but we do appreciate the community support.”

No stranger to hurricane relief efforts is Corporal Orville Hall, 39, a chainsaw operator who was part of an IRT working to clear thoroughfares this weekend.

The Devonshire resident, who is a chef in civilian life, said: “There wasn’t a lot of big debris, but we cleared roads from Warwick Camp to Dockyard then moved on to bus routes, clearing the overhanging trees and small branches sitting in the road that would be an obstruction for the vehicles.”

Cpl Hall added: “Being trained and capable of assisting – it gives me great pleasure to know that I can come out and help to bring the island back to normalcy. This is training being put to use.”

“We recently completed a City & Guilds chainsaw course where we did more advanced cross-cutting, chainsaw maintenance and, for the first time, I was trained to deal with windblown trees; so coming out of that course and doing this is very rewarding.”

For Private Mikhyla Ming, being involved in hurricane clear-up work was new. The 19-year-old sales associate from Somerset said: “It was kind of concerning because we are away from our family members, but overall it was pretty decent.”

“We saw a lot of low power lines on Saturday but as we were coming back we noticed that people were getting their lights on, so it definitely lifted everyone’s concerns for their families.”

Major Kenji Bean, the officer in charge at the regiment’s operations room at Warwick Camp, explained that after the green light was given from the EMO operations centre, reconnaissance teams were the first to be sent out to assess roads for obstructions and damage. It meant IRTs could be dispatched effectively and efficiently, with access for emergency service vehicles and routes to the hospital being the highest priorities.

Maj Bean said: “The troops were chomping at the bit to get out and do the job, looking for things to do.”

Captain Gordon Emmerson represented the RBR and acted as one of its liaison officers at the EMO operations centre.

He explained: “My role was to be a conduit of information for the RBR operations room and the Regiment at large, to have information at my fingertips to use in discussions and to give the other uniformed services and agencies a clear understanding of the RBR’s actions and resources we had to deploy for any task.”

“I was to receive requests from the other uniformed services and agencies and pass them back to the control people at Warwick Camp so that the Regiment would be used to its best and most effective capacity to return the island to normality.”

Capt Emmerson has “lost count” of how many hurricanes he has worked through, mostly as an IRT commander.

He said: “It is an immediate connection with your island, your culture and your community. There is an immediate sense of gratification to being a helping hand and knowing that your efforts will help your neighbours to look in on their neighbours, their loved ones and help the agencies get the island back to normal.”