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Elnora,
Indiana – Small
town, big heart
Story by
Lt. Col. John Newman,
Indiana
National Guard
Posted:
June 13, 2008
ELNORA, Ind.
– In a valiant effort to save a small town in southwestern
Indiana, Soldiers and Marines worked tirelessly alongside more than
100 volunteers Monday night to fill sandbags in a one-mile radius.
Approximately 120 Indiana National Guardsmen from various units
augmented by more than 80 Marines in the 26th
Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune,
N.C.,
assisted volunteers when a levee was within 18 inches of its crest.
“We
responded within hours of being activated,” said Command Sgt. Maj.
Pat Fromme, command sergeant major for Joint Task Force 81.
“Last
night there was about a 50-50 chance,” said Brig. Gen. David Harris,
the Joint Task Force 81 commander. “At one point we felt that the
levee would not hold, based on the forecasted crest of the river,
and that the town would be lost.”
Based on
conditions on the ground, Lt. Col. Troy Joslin was designated to
make the local call to move the sandbagging machines out if it
looked like the levee was starting to fail. He continued to
stockpile sandbags for the volunteers of Elnora to fill for other
areas considered at risk.
“Half the
people in the community were up here trying to help us,” said Joslin.
“In all, three semi truck loads and several pallets of sandbags were
produced.”
“Everyone worked hard
yesterday,” said Tony Wichman, the county commissioner of Elnora. We
appreciate the job they did.” He paused a moment, then continued,
“You guys saved our town.”
Despite
stopping a large portion of the flooding, those residents who left
should not return until flooding subsides.
“Emergency Management officials do not want them to come back into
town right now,” said Joslin.
“We recommend for them to wait unit the
water level goes down.”
“The town of Elnora
still has power, with approximately 750 people remaining in their
homes. We still have five, 5-ton vehicles in the area and are ready
to assist with any issues,” said Joslin.
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