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Governor, General, visit southwest Indiana
towns
Story by Staff Sgt. Jeff
Lowry, Indiana National Guard
Posted: June 11, 2008
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Indiana Air
National Guard Senior Airman Eric Krackenberger, an
electrician with the Civil Engineer Squadron, 181st
Intelligence Wing, shovels sand into a bag Tuesday, June 10,
2008. Krackenberger of Terre Haute, Ind., deployed to
Vincennes, Ind.,
in support of Operation Noah's Ark
to help Hoosiers combat the flood waters throughout southern Indiana. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry, Indiana National Guard
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Flying in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter,
Indiana's Governor, Mitch Daniels, and Adjutant General, Maj. Gen.
R. Martin Umbarger, visited southwestern
Indiana
towns – Worthington, Edwardsport, Vincennes, and
Hazelton - checking on flood waters, Hoosiers and their Guardsmen
Tuesday.
"What the general and I
are out here to do is to make certain people are well supplied, have
everything they need and that agencies are working together as
seamlessly as possible," said Gov. Daniels.
Flood waters damaged farm
crops in the Midwestern states of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and
Minnesota. While all crops weren't saved,
property and lives were in
Elnora,
Ind., which is about 40 miles southeast of Terre Haute, Ind.
Indiana Guardsmen, Marines and local citizens
helped reinforce the levee adding thousands of white-colored
sandbags.
“Everyone worked hard
yesterday,” said Tony Wichman, the county commissioner of Elnora.
“We appreciate the job they did."
“You guys saved
our town," he said.
The Soldiers
were proud of the hard work they did when many said the levee
wouldn't stand against the raging waters.
"They thought
the levee wasn't going to hold, but yes it did hold," said Sgt 1st
Class Paul Sharp of Indianapolis. He is
assigned to Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 150th Field Artillery and
worked on the levee in Elnora.
In preparation
for the flood waters travelling southward, about 400 Indiana
National Guard Soldiers and Airmen worked side by side filling
sandbags in Vincennes,
Ind. The bags are expected to be
used to protect the power plant in the southern part of the city.
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| Indiana Governor
Mitch Daniels and Indiana Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R.
Martin Umbarger, talk with Mike Ellis, Fire Department chief
of Hazelton, Ind., on Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The
southwestern Indiana town on the White River could be
affected by rising flood waters. Indiana National Guard
photo by Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry |
"It's always
good to help somebody out, whether your friend or neighbor," said
Senior Airman Eric Krackenberger, an electrician with the Civil
Engineering Squadron, 181st Intelligence Wing. He is a resident of
Terre Haute, which is also where the 181st is
based. Torrential rains hit the western
Indiana
city hard Saturday.
"I'm
always willing to help out wherever I can," said Krackenberger.
The last
town the governor and general visited was Hazelton. The
White River
there is above normal stages, but hasn't risen to the levee yet.
They talked to local officials there to determine whether sandbags
will be needed. Officials except waters to rise within six inches of
the top of levee.
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