The official blog of the U.S. Coast Guard
Across the nation, more than 48,000 Coast Guard aids to navigation, commonly known as ATON, mark every navigable waterway, identifying navigational hazards and ensuring mariner safety. But what happens when navigational aids are knocked off course by a natural disaster like a hurricane or flood?
From the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf; Canada to the Caribbean Sea, the men and women of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area have served our nation well in 2011. The past year has been a challenging one with several crisis events, a new threat emerging in the Caribbean Sea and continued demands to serve the maritime community.
A member of MSD Cincinnati's Disaster Area Response Team tosses a sandbag to Senior Chief Petty Officer Darren Cliffe as the two men attempt to help save a house from rising floodwaters in Brookport, Ill. Their DART has been working with local and federal agencies to assist in flood response in communities throughout Southern Illinois.
Coast Guard Reservist Lt. j.g. Ash Thorne wades out into a water-covered driveway that his disaster area response team had crossed to rescue a couple trapped in their home by floodwater. Thorne is supervising two teams of Coast Guard Reservists from Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River as they assist in flood response in rain-soaked