Community Corner

Katrina Anniversary Hits Home For Butler Police Officers

Officers spent nearly three weeks assisting with recovery efforts in Louisiana.

Six years ago today, the storm that would later be known as Hurricane Katrina began brewing over the Bahamas before touching land and creating widespread devastation to the Gulf Coast less than a week later.

The storm that has been labeled one of the most destructive natural disasters in American history, taking the lives of over 1,300 people, may have seemed far away for tri-boro residents, but for two officers who responded to assist with recovery efforts after the event, this week's anniversary hits close to home.

At the time, Capt. Ciro Chimento and Sgt. Keith Soules were partners and after the hurricane landfilled on Aug. 29, the officers volunteered to accompany other responders from throughout Morris County. Soules said he remembers several officers not wanting to go because of the many vaccinations required to prevent bacterial diseases and infections from materials left behind and in the water where they would be responding.

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Chimento and Soules were deployed to a section of Louisiana near Baton Rouge to initially be part of a de-morgue team. The two officers worked in conjunction with responders from the Clifton Fire Department and at first, assisted with locating bodies of those who died as a result of the destruction of the storm.

"Every day, before we got back, we had to be de-contaminated," Soules said, adding that the Clifton Fire Department officials would wait hours for the officers to return to de-contaminate them for their safety.

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"It was almost horrific," Chimento said. "TV doesn't do it justice."

Chimento described the scene where they were recovering bodies as "a gruesome sight" and said that many officers ended up leaving Louisiana early due to emotional distress.

"It was almost an eerie feeling," Chimento said. "This was a place that was five times the size of Butler, and it was a ghost town."

After several days, the Butler officers were assigned a new duty: to return thousands of 9-1-1 calls that were placed to local police departments during the storm, following up to ensure that the people who placed the calls were alive and well. Unfortunately, Chimento said, many of those who placed the calls were gone.

"Most residents abandoned their homes," Chimento said. "Unfortunately, we found some residents that didn't make it."

What the officers also found were many abandoned pets, chained to fences and left behind by their owners. Many of the animals were brought to shelters, some even adopted by responders, Soules said.

Chimento said the local police departments were bombarded by the 9-1-1 calls during the event and did not have enough personnel to respond to the emergencies until days later, when responders like himself were able to assist. Chimento and Soules worked 12- to 16-hour shifts during the nearly three weeks they were there, doing as much as they could to help local officials piece together what happened to those affected.

"You can't even imagine the size of the devastation," Soules said.

One thing Soules said he remembers clearly is the hospitality of the local civilians.

"The civilians thanked us and gave us food," he said. "Their hospitality was second to none."

Chimento said he feels that the locals knew and understood why the officers were there and were appreciative.

"We did a lot of good, I thought," he said.

Through the experience, the officers said they learned a lot about working as a team with other departments all for one common purpose: to assist those in need in whatever way possible.


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