Returning the Favor
After SOS call was answered by ITDRC, North Carolina Firefighter is inspired to give back
In one of the most challenging years in recent history, it’s sometimes hard to find the good in the bad. It’s not optimism alone, but pure grit that sees you through tough times.
For Noah Hoffer, it was not 2020, but 2018 that shifted everything about how he prepared for the worst — and how he now lives after the worst had happened.
Greeting the Convoy
Hurricane Florence brought catastrophe to Hoffer’s coastal community in North Carolina. Water and wind from a Category 4 hurricane, that slowly formed into a long-lived rain event, swallowed homes in forty inches of water.
At the time, Hoffer was working a shift at the local fire department, attempting to put together an Emergency Operations Center — with resources he didn’t have.
Town Hall, along with all of its resources, went with the high tide. The local government had no location to operate out of; the radio system was down, the temporary EOC didn’t have telephones, and cell service was unreliable.
Although protecting his community was his job, this was Hoffer’s first unofficial deployment with ITDRC, after having recently joined the organization.
During the storm, the town lost much of the aerial fiber network that connected its buildings, and hardly anyone in the department escaped without personal property damage.
As Hoffer describes, he was up a creek without a paddle.
Without an Internet connection, Hoffer hoped he could reach help by messaging ITDRC through a satellite messenger. He knew that even if the organization happened to receive the SOS, he wouldn’t be able to receive a response.
“I typed it up and there was this moment of, did our call for help actually make it out?” Noah recalls, “It was a shot in the dark.”
“But sure enough at 9 pm here comes a team with a huge convoy” Noah says, “at this point we were working around the clock, I mean there was so much to do and it’s not like anyone had anywhere to go.”
While Hoffer worked alongside ITDRC, a colleague headed toward the island where Hoffer’s home was located.
The swells had taken most of his roof and the water inside destroyed the rest. His remaining possessions consisted of a weeks worth of clothing, and now, a blue Disaster Tech t-shirt from ITDRC.
Hoffer would never return to his former home again.
All Hoffer would receive is a picture of his battered family home. It was enough for him to realize everything there was “toast” and more importantly, he needed to focus on taking care of his community.
Hoffer stayed at the EOC — on a mission he says changed his perspective.
“I could’ve been overwhelmed, but there was nothing I could do about it. I made myself focus on what I could do for other folks” says Hoffer.
The EOC turned into a hub for community recovery. With the loss of the town hall, ITDRC supplied phones and connectivity equipment at the town’s recreation center, transforming it to a temporary work space for government officials.
“It was a mission to save our town” says Hoffer. “I am so grateful to ITDRC, and it changed everything about me.”
Some of ITDRC’s equipment from Hurricane Florence remains in use in several North Carolina communities to this day, and Hoffer knows exactly who to call when there’s trouble.
Driven to Help
Hoffer saw his chance to help survivors when a recent call for deployment availability went out to ITDRC volunteers.
Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm with a devastating storm surge, had hit Lake Charles like a bullseye.
This was the first time in 2 years Hoffer felt his life had reached a stable conclusion. For more than a year after Hurricane Florence, Hoffer remained nomadic while continuing his long hours with the department.
Hoffer had plenty of work on his plate, but knew his presence and experience was needed elsewhere, to do what ITDRC had done for him in 2018.
When Hoffer arrived at the EOC in Lake Charles, he received a list of damaged and non operational fire departments, entrusted to ITDRC from the national guard.
The impacted area had 40 fire stations in need of connectivity, and Hoffer had just 96 hours to make a difference before returning home and back to his regular work.
“I started calling places right away,” says Hoffer.
Hoffer knew that connectivity is critical for public safety agencies to respond to emergencies, and central to recovery; that’s what brought his own department a sense of normalcy.
At the first Lake Charles fire station, one of the twenty Hoffer personally visited while on deployment, Hoffer met with the fire captain.
“Hearing his story, he had gone through what I had experienced in Florence,” said Hoffer, “that was a full circle moment for me.”
The Chief of Station 1 had lost his family home while working his shift. He cleared roads for first responders before returning to assess his own property damage.
Returning to a disaster zone after living through one brings a moment of clarity and purpose to many of the volunteers who were born out of loss themselves.
The chance to give back is always greater than the trauma of reliving the storm.
This is why I had come,” says Hoffer, “Each storm gives you perspective, and I’m thankful for what Florence had taught me.”
Hoffer was personally able to connect many fire stations in SW Louisiana, sometimes deploying satellite phones where cell service was still down.
Simultaneously, Hoffer and his team worked to assist the local school district, who was struggling to assess infrastructure damage, and bring seventy schools back online.
ITDRC was able to install temporary equipment that connected several remote schools back to their central datacenter.
Although Hoffer’s time in the field was relatively short, his deeds for a worthy cause impacted thousands of survivors.
Hoffer wants those survivors to know it will all come full circle.
“Your life isn’t going to go back to normal tomorrow, don’t be discouraged, you can work through this because there are people here to help.”
