Just as in other recent natural disasters, volunteer rescuers are now being threatened with arrest by government officials.
Volunteer pilot Jordan Seidhom recently engaged in life-saving rescue missions for stranded families in the wake of devastating floods in the North Carolina mountains.
Seidhom rescued a number of stranded victims of the disaster. On one occasion, Seidhom thought the pavement where he landed his helicopter was a little unstable. So Seidhom opted to leave his copilot son at the rescue scene and fly the stranded victims to medical treatment areas one at a time.
But when the helicopter pilot landed at a safe area, he was confronted by a powermad government official. The official threatened him with arrest if he continued rescuing people.
“I explained to him that I left my son on the side of the mountain, and I left another victim. I was going to go back and bring them, it was already set up for the landing spot and then I would get out of his area. He told me I wasn’t going to go back up the mountain to get them, I was going to leave them there.”
“I’m going back and getting my copilot. ‘If you turn around and go back up the mountain, you’re going to be arrested.’ I said, ‘Well, sir, I’m going back to get my copilot, I don’t know what to tell you.’”
