Responding to disaster (From Penarth Times)

Responding to disaster

when floods hit the South American country of Guyana at the end of January, making 250,000 people homeless and threatening the capital city, Penarth's Stuart Jones was called to help.

The Sully Place resident has been messing about in boats since he was 10 years old and it was a natural progression to take his passion and put it to good use by joining the RNLI.

But it was as part of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU), set up in 2000 after floods devastated Mozambique, that Stuart set off for Guyana on February 1.

He said: "The call came in mid-afternoon and by 6am the following morning I was at Heathrow preparing to board a plane.

"As with any shout emergency call we answer day-to-day, we rely heavily on the understanding of our employers.

"I am extremely lucky. I work for Cardiff Harbour Authority on the Barrage and it is thanks to their good will that I can carry on volunteering for the RNLI and for the RRU."

While Stuart was away, he was grateful for the moral support given to his wife Jenn by the Penarth RNLI members, and HQ staff, who would regularly pass on information about Stuart's whereabouts.

He added: "I couldn't put in a call via the satellite phone very often, but HQ would give Jenn a call whenever they had news to pass on."

Stuart and the team were told they would be entering a region under approximately four feet of water.

Speed was of the essence, because the dam holding the city's water supply was splitting and threatening the capital Georgetown.

But in the time it took the plane to get to Guyana - around 22 hours - the plan had changed and a decision made to relieve pressure on the dam by flooding areas around it.

The RRU now had a larger area to cover.

Stuart said: "The RRUs have a supply of equipment held in storage at RNLI headquarters in Poole. The boats we use are old service vessels taken out of commission and refurbished for these rescue missions.

"We worked with the Guyanese coastguard, many of whom hadn't conducted this type of exercise before. We trained them on the equipment we took over with us and then left it there for their use.

"We brought back all the technical gear we wouldd need for another shout, like satellite phones, which can be carried as hand luggage.

"But it would have cost more to ship the bulky items back than to replace them. And as service vessels are always being taken out of commission around the country to be replaced with more up-to-date boats, we have a fairly good supply in stock for the next emergency."

Stuart has now come home to Jenn and their 13-month-old son Evan, with a strong feeling of fulfilment.

He added: "This shout was our first chance to show what we can do, and it was a rewarding experience.