Historic town prepares for rising waters                                                          Story by Spc. William E. Henry, Indiana Army National Guard                                 Posted: June 18, 2008

NEW HARMONY, Ind.—Indiana National Guard trucks arrived in New Harmony late Thursday with pallets of sandbags for levee reinforcement operations.

Heavy downpours dumped rain on the troops the Friday as they began stacking sandbags over the predicted water height.    

Sergeant Lauren Hroblak, 38th Infantry Division, said this is her first time participating in an operation like this.

“I think we’ve done really well. I see a lot of progress, there’s a lot of good that’s happened because of what we’re doing. Hopefully a lot of damage has been avoided because of this,” said Hroblak.

“We’re keeping motivation high and of course you know it’s raining so it’s never fun but we’re making it fun. Everyone’s working hard and pulling together,” she said.  

Posey County Emergency Management Agency Director Larry Robb said his biggest concern is the well located on the other side of the levee.

Areas have been concerned by the water supplies being potentially contaminated by run-off waters.

Brigadier General David Harris, Joint Task Force 81 commander, said during an interview that the main priority should be to make sure that water and sewage is protected.

“In this case we are looking at their levee specifically around their well and specifically around their treatment plant to make sure they don’t go out of business so we don’t have to haul water in there for the next week or so,” said Harris.