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National Guard
Responds to Southern Indiana
Flooding
Story and Photos by Spc.
William E. Henry,
Indiana
National Guard
Posted: June 9, 2008
MARTINSVILLE,
Ind.— Indiana National Guardsmen were activated for
flood assistance as unprecedented rainfall made the already
saturated soil unstable, resulting in flash flooding across
Indiana
June 7, 2008. One of the hardest hit areas was in
Morgan
County where Martinsville residents found themselves
fleeing to safety from low lying areas of the town.
During the first part of
the day Cadet Mitch Connelly, B Company, 1st Battalion, 151st
Infantry, said he found himself in a quite different situation than
he’d anticipated.
His tasks included
providing security with other Soldiers in the area, getting Meals
Ready to Eat for Soldiers and working with a local catering service
that made a temporary staging area at the armory until the high
school was prepared to take the influx of people that were
displaced.
The catering service,
Water to Wine, relied on donations from requests put out over the
radio to help feed hundreds hungry and thirsty people in the early
part of the day.
One of the partners of the
company, Janene Morris, said her home was currently flooded but
rather than worrying about her own needs, she instead took
initiative to help others.
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Brenda
Cramer,
Martinsville,
Ind., resident,
receives help from Spc. Tony Pierle and Sgt. Brian Huckins,
A Battery, 1st Battalion, 150th Field Artillery, out of her
home and into rescue vehicles to higher ground Saturday,
June 7, 2008. Residents in the area were forced out of their
homes by flash floods that raged through the city area.
Photo by Spc. William E. Henry, Indiana
National Guard.
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“What can I do,” expressed
Morris, “I can’t do anything at home, but I can do something here.”
Some residents, like
Brenda Cramer, decided to stay in their home when water seemed to
be
receding and in turn took a ride from the National Guard through
high water.
“I’ve never seen it flood
here like this,” said Brenden Fearrin after A Battery, 2nd
Battalion, 150th Field Artillery Soldiers urged him and his father,
Erik Burns, to get out of their flooded home and into the five-ton
truck headed for higher ground.
“I’m just grateful they
came to get us,” said Burns.
Soldiers continued their
search of the area until dark clearing out seven people, including a
young child and mother, from the flood stricken areas of east
Martinsville
and moving them to the high school where volunteers and emergency
personnel waited to help those forced out of their homes.
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