An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, from Coast Guard Air Stations Traverse City, Mich., flies over the Red River March 28, 2009, in response to the flooding. Another Dolphin helicopter, from Air Station New Orleans, accompanied them during the transit from Grand Forks to Fargo to stand-by for rescue operations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Erik Swanson)

Machinery Technician 3rd Class Dan Fraley of Station Sault Ste. Marie assists an Oxbow, N.D. resident and her faithful friend as they disembark from the station's airboat along the Red River in North Dakota, Thursday, March 26, 2009. The station is one of three airboat crews from the Ninth Coast Guard District which conducted house-to-house searches for citizens in distress ubder the incident command of Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River in flood-prone communities on the Red River. (U.S. Coast Guard/Photo by Petty Officer Bill Colclough)

Many more pics to be found here.

The next few days will be critical as North Dakota braces for record-setting Red River water levels, officials in the affected area said on March 26.

A National Guard task force brought strong communication with other agencies and the physical effort of 1,200 citizen-soldiers and -airmen to a fight against time.

“The biggest issue is if the dike breaks,” Army Col. James Hrdlicka, commander, Joint Task Force East, said by telephone from Fargo, N.D., the state’s largest city, with about 100,000 residents facing potentially disastrous flooding.

“It’s supposed to crest approximately this Saturday,” Hrdlicka said, emphasizing that weather forecasting is an uncertain art. “One or two days — don’t take this for gospel — during that time frame is when it’s going to be critical that that thing holds. Once it starts to subside, once we get to that point and nothing has given way or it’s still holding, then we should be OK.”

North Dakota was at the epicenter of a four-state struggle against the elements, while three others had their hands full as well.

In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty was submitting an expedited major disaster declaration request as about 430 Guard members distributed sandbags, provided security at sandbagging sites, patrolled dikes, secured pumps and controlled traffic.

In South Dakota, Guard members helped the state’s transportation department remove snow after severe snowfall on March 23 fell on Sturgis and Rapid City, forcing the closure of Interstate 90 from the Wyoming border to Chamberlain.

In Montana, National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters provided search and rescue assistance after transportation workers were unable to breach heavy snow and ice to reach stranded motorists following the March 23 snowstorm.

Hrdlicka and his Soldiers and Airmen found themselves facing some of the storm’s severest tests after the melt from accumulated snow and ice threatened to swell the Red River to levels not seen in living memory.

“Our presence helps,” Hrdlicka said. “It makes people feel a little more comfortable.”

Guard members assisted with evacuations and traffic control, lined up to place sandbags that strengthened levees, and provided aerial surveillance. North Dakota troops, in particular, provided personnel and resources to key flood-fighting areas. They filled, stored and distributed sandbags; patrolled dikes; broke ice jams; provided security; operated traffic control points; and helped stranded citizens threatened by flood waters.

The National Guard was contributing to a team effort that included the state’s Emergency Operations Center working at its highest activation level, a Red Cross shelter opening, a private engineering company blasting ice in Bismarck, and local law enforcement and other rescue workers out in force.

“The most important thing is communicating and being with the city officials and their [Emergency Operations Center],” Hrdlicka said. “When we’re out doing missions, the soldiers and airmen are side by side with the citizens.”

The Red River previously reached about 39 feet in 1997, the commander said. “If it gets over 39 1/2, something like that, then this will be one of the biggest events in this area. The entire state is seeing flooding that many people really haven’t seen in places that normally don’t.”

Some Guard members were on duty even though their own homes were at risk. “If there is a situation at their house, they come off state active duty and go take care of that,” Hrdlicka said. “A lot of them come back.”

Joint Task Force East serves the Red River Valley, where the river flows north from the border with South Dakota to the Canadian border. Wahpeton is the first community in the river’s progress from the southern part of the state. It flows north through Fargo, the Grand Forks and numerous communities on up to Canada.

“We will be following this all the way up to Canada,” Hrdlicka said. “We had a call for volunteers. We had real short notice. Within 24 hours, we had 200. They step up, they really do. The attitude is really good. It’s snowing out. We had freezing rain last night. The roads are slippery.

Visibility isn’t that great. We’ve got folks out there on traffic control points and building dikes and putting up barriers, and their attitude is good. They have a sense that they’re helping somebody, and that really makes a difference.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill

Sgt. 1st Class Alan Sabinash, green jacket, and several members of the 817th Engineer Company (Sappers), assemble sections of a collapsible barrier device called a HESCO, March 24, in Fargo, N.D. The sections of HESCO are being linked together and filled with sand to create a flood barrier from the rising waters of the Red River. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp

While deployed in Iraq, the towering Hesco barriers that ringed the base became a familiar sight to Army Spc. Ryan L. Karsky.

These large, modular steel baskets, lined with a fine, mesh material, held compacted desert sand, gravel and chunks of concrete. They served as an effective shield against hostile fire and shrapnel.

Now back home in North Dakota, Karsky, a member of the North Dakota Army National Guard’s 817th Engineer Company, has found a different use for the trusty barriers. He was among about 50 Guard soldiers and airmen constructing miles of Hesco barriers along low-lying parts of Fargo, which is dealing with major flooding.

For many of south Fargo’s most flood-prone neighborhoods, the Hescos are all that stand between the homes and the rising Red River.

“I saw them all the time in Iraq,” Karsky said, “but I never ever thought we’d be using them to fight a flood. I thought we’d be over here throwing sandbags.”

Sandbag dikes were the protection of choice back in 1997, the last time the Red River seriously threatened the Fargo area and before many of the citizen-soldiers and -airmen working the dike lines today were even Guardsmen.

Army 1st Sgt. Curtis W. Kaseman, also of the 817th, remembers the 1997 flood fight well. And as an Iraq war veteran, he’s another soldier who had come to appreciate the Hescos for the protection they offered in a combat zone.

Kaseman, of Jamestown, N.D., said the Hesco barriers in Iraq were much larger — some as high as 20 feet — than the 3-foot versions being used in Fargo this week. The barriers are lined with plastic to help hold back the impending wall of water.

“They are not new technology as far as fighting floods is concerned, but they definitely are new around here since 1997,” Kaseman said.

Representatives of Hesco Inc. said the barriers were designed primarily for flood control and to impede hillside erosion. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan opened up a new use for the barriers.

What makes the barriers so beneficial is the speed at which they can be constructed compared to traditional sandbag efforts. Company specifications claim that what would take a crew more than 70 hours to do with sandbags can be done in about 30 minutes with Hesco barriers.

As the Guarsmen set up and fill the Hescos, it is a race against the clock and the swelling river. The members of the Jamestown-based 817th have been placed on active-duty orders and sent to Fargo to fight the flood.

They join more than 800 North Dakota Guard soldiers and airmen, most of whom volunteered, for the statewide flood-fighting efforts. All are working alongside civilian contractors, businesses and homeowners to hold the high ground.

Before his unit was activated, Army Spc. Brett M. Steele was a Guard volunteer already involved in flood fighting in central North Dakota, near Beulah. He said it was hard to just pick up and leave.

“But this is where we need to be now,” Steele said. “My only hesitation in all of this is that I had to move from one spot in need to another one.”

A North Dakota Army National Guard dump truck gets a load of clay to haul to low areas where earthen dikes will be created in an effort to block rising flood waters of the Red River in Fargo, N.D., March 24, 2009. DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp

Army Spc. Jordan J. Nygaard, also with the 817th, said he was amazed by the rapid-fire pace of the dike work going on around him this week. The soldiers kept the Hesco assembly line humming, as a parade of dump trucks supplied fresh clay and dirt to the site near Fargo’s Lindenwood Park. A fleet of Bobcat loaders, driven by civilian contractors, filled the Hescos as quickly as they were set up.

“It’s kind of intriguing to see nine Bobcat loaders working so quickly within a distance of one city block,” Nygaard said. “There’s a lot of moving parts. You have to watch out.”

Gary Boatman, a Fargo resident whose mother lives near Lindenwood Park, was in the area and saw the work being done by the Guard. He wanted to help, so he brought his own Bobcat loader to the fight, complete with a cardboard sign that said, “Tell me what to do!”

“It’s not just these neighborhoods that appreciate what the Guard is doing for us — it’s the whole city of Fargo,” Boatman said, between hauling loads.

On Fargo’s north side, flood fighting was in full effect yesterday morning.

Because of the terrain in the area, Hesco barriers could not be used, said Army 1st Lt. John W. Peyerl, a volunteer from the 136th Combat Service Support Battalion in Grand Forks.

Peyerl said about 130 Guard soldiers and airmen were forming a chain to move sandbags and place them about 2 feet high.

“They’re a little sore out there today, but I don’t think any of them are sorry they signed up for this,” Peyerl said. “This is what they want to be doing, and they are out having a good time.”

Air Force Staff Sgt. Elliot Steinbrink, with the North Dakota Air Guard’s 119th Wing, had more on his mind than some of the other volunteers on the sandbag line. His home is only blocks away from the river.

“It makes me nervous, but everyone needs the help, not just me,” Steinbrink said. “When you’re working as a National Guardsmen, it means something. People recognize that and it feels good.”

DoD
By Army Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds
Special to American Forces Press Service

A view from a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter shows Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Wheeler using a small boat to transport six people and two dogs to a safe rescue platform after the Red River flooded the Fargo area March 25, 2009. Wheeler, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, was lowered from the helicopter and later assisted the four adults, one child, one infant and two small dogs as they were hoisted to safety by the rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station Traverse City, Mich. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Brendan Evans)

A Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich. helicopter crew rescued five adults and a 14-month-old child from their home in Abercrombie, N.D., Wednesday, at approximately 1:30 p.m.

The HH-65 Dolphin crew successfully hoisted the residents, who were trapped in their home by the Midwest flood waters, and transported them to Wahepton Airport. No injuries were reported.

For video of the rescue CLICK HERE.

The Coast Guard helicopter is one of several Ninth Coast Guard District units deployed to assist in the Red River flood response. For full information on the deployment CLICK HERE.

The Eighth Coast Guard District has created a Midwest flood response information website. The web address

Coast Guard

In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, a small boat crewmember from Small Boat Station Sault St. Marie, Mich., responds to a search and rescue call, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Various Coast Guard units from around the country have been called to assist in the 2009 midwest flood response. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Renee C. Aiello)

In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Marvin, a machinery technician from Coast Guard Small Boat Station St. Clair Shores, Mich., works on the tire of an airboat trailer, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. The tire of trailer became frozen after exposure to the harsh winter elements following the response effort to the 2009 midwest flood. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Renee C. Aiello)

Units from the Ninth Coast Guard District are assisting units from the Eighth District in response to flooding along the Red River, which runs through Minnesota and North Dakota.

Coast Guard crewmembers are working closely with both local and state officials from response centers in the Red River region and have saved 16 lives as of approximately 1:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Ninth District assets responding include an Air Station Traverse City, Mich., HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew; and 20-ft.airboats from Coast Guard Stations Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; St. Clair Shores, Mich.; Sturgeon Bay, Wis. and Marblehead, Ohio.

Additional airboats from Stations Belle Isle, Mich., Saginaw, Mich. and Alexandria Bay, N.Y. are standing by to deploy if needed.

Coast Guard

In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, two airboat crews deployed from Coast Guard District 9 await the next search and rescue mission during the 2009 midwest flood response, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. The airboats are used in shallow water throughout residential areas. Numerous Oxbow residents were evacuated to dry ground. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Renee C. Aiello)

Click on this photo to see a collection of North Dakota National Guard photos of the flooding and their response to it.

Rain and melting snow continue to increase flooding in five states across the northern United States today.

More than 1,200 National Guard soldiers and airmen have been called up in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming to help state residents deal with the early spring storm.

In North Dakota, the number of Guard members called up has quadrupled since the weekend to 800.

“We have soldiers and airmen working around the clock to respond to communities’ emergency requests,” said Army Col. Jim Hrdlicka, who is commanding Joint Task Force East in Fargo, N.D. “Despite predictions, we are very confident that North Dakota citizens and our communities, together with the Guard, Department of Emergency Services, Department of Transportation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, can mitigate this threat to the best of our abilities.”

Since March 20, soldiers and airmen have filled sandbags; transported equipment, such as pumps and generators; manned traffic control points; constructed a clay dike in Fargo; and set up Hesco barriers — large containers that offer protection when filled with sand — for flood protection..

“As we stabilize the site here in Fargo, we’re prepared to move north to Grand Forks later this week,” Army Capt. Craig Hillig, operations officer for Joint Task Force East, said. “We will still have personnel in Fargo, but we’ll be moving north to follow the water.”

North Dakota Guard troops also continue to come to the aid of their neighbors.

“The soldiers don’t only save our country, they save the people, one by one,” Rose Silbernagl, 87, of Linton, N.D., said. “I never thought they’d save me.”

Silbernagl has lived in her home since 1951, “and this is the first time I had to get the heck out of there,” she said.

A widow, Silbernagl has a bad heart and is on oxygen, but she opened her home to four friends who were flooded out earlier this week. When her sewer backed up, she still didn’t want to leave, but her 15 children insisted.

Army Sgt. Andrew Rohrich was one of the soldiers who helped Rose get out of the water and over to the county courthouse, which is serving as an evacuation center.

Rohrich, a Linton native, now lives in Bismarck where he works full time for the Guard.

Silbernagl has known him since he was knee high, and she joked, “There’s a reason there was a flood — so I can see you guys!”

Silbernagl doesn’t know when she will be able to return to her home. “Just have to make the best of it,” she said before leaving to stay with her sister-in-law.

In Minnesota, the Red River and its tributaries are expected to crest in the Fargo-Moorhead area tomorrow, shifting sandbagging operations to smaller communities.

Almost 400 Guard members, including soldiers from the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry, based in Moorhead, Minn., are on duty providing security at sandbagging sites, conducting dike patrols and manning traffic control points in three counties as well as securing pumps in the cities of Perly, Hendrum and Halstad, Minn., according to the Minnesota National Guard Web site.

In South Dakota, blizzard conditions necessitated the call-up of six National Guard soldiers along with two snow blowers, two Humvees and one pickup truck to help with snow removal in the Rapid City and Sturgis areas.

Asked about coverage of these missions, Army Maj. Brendan Murphy, the state public affairs officer, said, “None of my folks have left our houses yet.”

In Montana, several vehicles have been stranded in the southeast corner of the state since March 23 due to heavy snow and subzero temperatures.

The state’s Department of Transportation asked the National Guard for help rescuing stranded motorists.

Army Maj. Tim Crowe, the state public affairs officer, said 13 Guardsmen, along with a CH-47 Chinook and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, were deployed to Powder River and Carter County to support search and rescue operations.

The helicopters, loaded with warm clothing, sleeping bags and food, were sent to search for stranded motorists along U.S. Highway 212 between Broadus and Alzada, Mont., yesterday.

Crews will resume the search in the Broadus, Ekalaka and Alzada areas this morning, Crowe said.

In eastern Wyoming, several residents sought refuge at the National Guard armory in Wheatland, said Deidre Forster, the state public affairs officer.

DoD
By Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke
Special to American Forces Press Service
(Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke serves at the National Guard Bureau. Army Sgt. Ann Knudson of the North Dakota Army National Guard contributed to this story.)