Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area early morning August 29, 2005. The storm surge breached the city's levees at multiple points, leaving 80 percent of the city submerged, tens of thousands of victims clinging to rooftops, and hundreds of thousands scattered to shelters around the country. Three weeks later, Hurricane Rita flooded much of the area. The devastation to the Gulf Coast by these two hurricanes has been called the greatest disaster in our nation's history.
With this event in the Gulf Region, FEMA was in need of Mobile Medical Units, quickly. Spevco, was already in negotiations to build several medical units, but none had been started. What FEMA needed were units that could be modified, now. The Rapid Deployment Vehicle (RDV) previously developed by Spevco, fit that purpose. With a lot of cooperation and assistance, Spevco was able to deliver 3 units in 30 days.
