Global lifesaver brings skills home after Hurricane Helene

Global lifesaver brings skills home after Hurricane Helene

Convention & Traffic Expo keynote will share the path to his lifesaving passion

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (Dec. 18, 2024) – Doc Hendley travels the globe helping save lives through water purification efforts but since September has redirected his energies toward the tragedy that struck his home base in Boone, N.C.

Doc Hendley

The mountain region of western North Carolina where Boone is located was inundated with water from massive rainfall and severe flooding resulting from Hurricane Helene in September, straining the capabilities of government and private disaster relief resources.

That’s when his crisis experience and can-do attitude proved valuable as he rallied volunteers and collected supplies for distribution to families devastated by the storm that wiped out portions of Interstate 40 and small mountain communities. By mid-November, Hendley said they had distributed 1.2 million pounds of food, relief supplies, medical aid and water.

Hendley, now in his 40s, was tending bar to pay the bills when he stumbled upon his passion for saving lives across the globe and founded Wine to Water. He will share his story on March 3 as keynote speaker for ATSSA’s 55^th Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in Orlando, Fla.

The Convention runs from Feb. 28-March 4 at the Orange County Convention Center and includes a day devoted to education where the industry’s expertise and innovative thinking for advancing roadway safety will be highlighted.

Nearly 40 education sessions will explore topics such as autonomous vehicles in work zones, speed management tactics, advances in tracking active work zones so motorists know when work is taking place, and uses of artificial intelligence in the transportation arena.

Education Day on March 2 runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will offer topics across seven tracks including: Business; Guardrail; Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV)/Innovation; Roadway Worker Protection; Temporary Traffic Control; Signs and Signals; and Pavement, Markings and High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST).

“With the rapid advances taking place in roadway safety, we felt it was important this year to devote extra time to education to put a spotlight on work taking place in the roadway safety infrastructure industry,” said ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner. “We also encourage everyone to explore the massive Traffic Expo where they can see, touch and discuss the tools being utilized to save lives on the nation’s roadways.”

Hendley’s talk will be part of the Convention’s one general session starting at 9 a.m. on March 3. That session will include a rapid succession of topics from an industry update to legislative insights on highway safety policy to announcement of national awards and a somber tribute to the men and women killed in work zones and added to the National Work Zone Memorial for 2025.

More than 230 exhibitors will fill the 200,000-square-foot Traffic Expo floor beginning with a sneak peak on March 2 and continuing through March 4. The final day will include the hour-long Circle of Innovation where the industry gathers to highlight significant innovations from the past year and to announce the winner of ATSSA’s Innovation Award, chosen from among items entered in the New Products Rollout.

The media can request to take part in two special events being held for the first time at ATSSA’s 2025 Convention & Traffic Expo.

ATSSA’s Innovation & Technical Services Team will lead a New Products Rollout (NPRO) Tour for department of transportation employees on the Traffic Expo floor at 1 p.m., Monday, March 3. They will see all 20 entries for the annual contest in which companies vie for the coveted Innovation Award. These entries showcase the latest tools, technology and ideas for advancing roadway safety.

On Tuesday, March 4, from noon to 2 p.m., the Traffic Expo floor will feature a Work Zone Safety Device Demonstrations area. This area, funded by a Federal Highway Administration grant, will showcase tools used to for work zone safety including Automated Flagging Assistance Devices (AFADs), Portable Traffic Signals (PTS) and Driveway Assistance Devices (DADs).

For full details on ATSSA’s 2025 Convention & Traffic Expo, expo.atssa.com.