Retiree helps disaster victims with food, shelter

By JODI HAUSEN Chronicle Staff Writer

When most of Louisiana was plunged into darkness after Hurricane Gustav last month, Norm Eggert, of Bozeman, was a beacon of help for residents there.

Eggert, 69, a retired math professor from Montana State University, drove the Emergency Response Vehicle from Bozeman to Baton Rouge, La., on Aug. 31 with Cinda Robbins, of Billings. They arrived in time to witness Hurricane Gustav itself.

First they watched the rain come down, the dormitory housing the volunteers flooded with about a foot of water and the roads with nearly waist-deep water, he said.

“It sure rained,” Eggert said.

Officials were concerned that there could be tornadoes, but it is hard to get information during a disaster when you’re in the disaster area, he said.

“When you go on these things, you don’t get much information because there’s no television and newspapers are haphazard,” he said.

Along with the flooding, trees and tree limbs littered the streets, he said. But the biggest problem faced by Louisianans after Hurricane Gustav was the lack of electricity. A lot of damage was done because the storm was so fast moving, Eggert said.

He's been volunteering in emergency services for at least 20 years, he said, starting with the Nordic ski patrol and later Gallatin County Search and Rescue, where he was a charter member and served as chairman.

He has driven the ERV four times to disaster areas, following the wildfires in San Diego last year, the flooding in Hatch, N.M., in 2006, and to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Post Katrina, he helped open several emergency shelters, including the Astrodome. "It was very emotional," he said.

The ERV looks like, and is actually similar in construction to, a box ambulance, but is used for feeding disaster victims. Food is cooked ahead of time, often by religious groups volunteering in the disaster zone, and stored in thermal containers in the truck. The food is then driven to and distributed to residents in shelters or stuck in their neighborhoods post-disaster.

When he responds to a disaster, Eggert brings along the usual clothes and whatnot, an air mattress to put on the cots that are provided for volunteers, pens, pencils and a notebook - always a notebook. He even brings along notebooks to give to first-time responders on his team.

“Here’s the notebook I took (to Hurricane Gustav),” he said showing a small black-covered memo pad held together by a rubber band. “As soon as it falls apart, I come home,” Eggert said with a smile.

But he's always ready to go again, he said.

“A lot of people, when they retire, they want to do something,” Eggert said.

For him, it is disaster services with the Red Cross.

“I get something out of (the work), but I can’t put my finger on it,” he said. “It’s emotional. I have a need to go, but I don’t really know why.”

Red Cross disaster relief volunteer training classes

What: Fulfilling Our Mission

When: 6 to 9 p.m., Oct. 21

What: Shelter Operations

When: 6 to 9 p.m., Oct. 23

What: Client Casework

When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 25

All classes are free and will be held at the Red Cross Office in Bozeman at 300 N. Willson Ave. Register by calling 587-4611

Jodi Hausen can be reached at jhausen@dailychronicle.com or 582-2630.

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