Sounding the Surge: Inside the USACE Race to Reopen Florida’s Lifeline Waterways

MOBILE, Ala. — On the calmest days, navigating the serpentine navigation channels and coastal cuts of the northern Gulf Coast requires keen eyes and a steady hand. But on Day 4 of emergency hydrographic survey operations, aboard the 30-foot Survey Vessel Blackwater, the water beneath the hull is anything but predictable. Salt-crusted, sunburned, and running on strong coffee and determination, surveyors Jerry "JB" McLendon and Aaron Yarbrough stare intently into twin high-resolution sonar displays mounted in the cabin. Outside, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway stretches toward the horizon, masked by the deceptive stillness that follows a major storm. Beneath the murky surface, however, shifted shoals, submerged debris, and displaced navigation buoys threaten every commercial vessel attempting to pass. McLendon and Yarbrough, operating out of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mobile District Panama City Site Office, are spearheading a mission with immense consequences: reopening critical maritime arteries that supply an entire region with food, chemicals, and vital fuel after Hurricane Isaias ravaged the Gulf Coast late Friday evening and Saturday morning.

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