Soldiers of the North Dakota National Guard's Dickinson based 816th Engineer Company -Horizontal- responded to a call June 14 to perform a sandbagging mission raising the levee in Brooks Addition, near Burlington, N.D. Due to the heavy amounts of rain the state received, the 816th was tasked to raise several low spots on levees throughout their area. Photo by Spc. Cassandra Simonton

The North Dakota National Guard’s Dickinson based 816th Horizontal Engineer Battalion has been acting as a 24-hour-a-day Quick Reactionary Force for rapid response to any levee leaks or breaches in the Minot and Burlington area.

Having a QRF available is an essential part of leading a successful flood fight. QRFs are accountable for responding in the event of a levee incident such as seepage or erosion. They have also been assisting the city and the Corps of Engineers in raising the levees as necessary to compensate for rising waters.

“The Quick Reaction Force exists to respond to any recognized problems with the levees,” said Master Sgt. Barry Trottier, a member of the 164th Engineer Battalion who works in the operations center. “Right now, the Souris River is at an increased flow rate, and it is lasting for an extended period.”

The 816th have been part of many missions since they began flood duty in Minot, to include a 36-hour operation behind the Dakota Rose Bed and Breakfast when they worked to raise and repair the levee.

“If they hadn’t raised that up, the water could have flooded into the city,” said Trottier.

They also assembled 1,500 feet of HESCO barriers in Burlington after the Corps of Engineers determined that the 6,000 sandbags they had laid the previous day would not be ample to compensate for the rising waters.

Most recently the 816th has been working with the city and the Corps to raise the levees throughout the area. The combined effort is to ensure that the levees are at an appropriate level to handle the increased flow rate.

Soldiers have mobilized on several missions to apply plastic to the levees to make them less susceptible to erosion from rain or swift currents.

“QRF is important, so if there are any issues, we’re ready,” said Spc. Brandon Stewart of the 816th Horizontal Engineer Battalion. “First thing every morning, we check our equipment so we’re ready to go.”

Stewart said that a lot of what he has been doing has involved preventative maintenance such as repairing and raising levees and sandbagging around trouble areas.

“We’re trying to make sure everything is up to standard,” said Stewart.

Stewart, who is from Fargo, finished with advanced individual training in April so this is his first flood fight. “At the time, it’s hard work, and it’s stressful being away from home,” said Stewart. “But there is a lot of job satisfaction and people are very thankful when we help rescue their homes.”

Thus far in the Ward County area, the QRF has responded to about five events that required immediate response, which addressed issues that require immediate assistance. In the last 96 hours they have assisted in 8 planned missions that assisted the city and Corps to raise levels and apply poly.

“The National Guard will be here until the city and Corps is comfortable with the flow rate in Minot,” said Trottier.

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Maj. Brock Larson, the N.D. National Guard state partnership program director, right, discusses flood protection measures, April 14, with Ghanaian Dignitary Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh near the Red River in Fargo, N.D. Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh serves as the director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana, Africa, army. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

The 91-degrees-and-humid African country of Ghana and the snow-still-falling-in-April state of North Dakota may, at first blush, seem to have very little in common. There’s more to the partnership between the two entities than one might imagine, though.

“Ghana has the same kind of disasters we have in North Dakota. They have floods, drought and windstorms, but, in addition to that, they also have pestilence, avian flu, those types of things that they worry about,” said Doug Friez, a retired North Dakota Guardsman who has worked closely with Ghana. “Ghana’s climate is a little different, but their disasters are very similar.”

Through the Department of Defense-sponsored State Partnership Program, Ghana and North Dakota have been exchanging information and guidance since 2003. Although the partnership’s primary relationship has been between the North Dakota National Guard and Ghana Armed Forces, civilians, educators and disaster-management experts have all benefited from the ties in recent years. This week is the first time that disaster management information could be tied into the program during an actual natural disaster.

“I think this is the best opportune time to come around. In fact, the day we were landing in Bismarck, we saw a lot from the air. And what we have seen (in Fargo) really goes a long way to tell us a lot,” said Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh, director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana Army.

Both Tetteh and Kofi Portuphy, the national coordinator for Ghana’s National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO, spent this week touring and meeting with officials in all levels of disaster management. They also explored how the use of GIS, or geospatial information systems, could benefit their natural disaster response.

As in North Dakota, the military works closely with government agencies in disaster management.

“The armed forces support NADMO. We are the civil sector and they are the military sector, so (we) bring military resources to bear on our planning, our training, our response, our recovery programs,” Portuphy said. “And, this principally is an invitation by our partners, the National Guard, to expose us to the use of the GIS system, the WebEOC and what support the National Guard air, land, sea (and) Coast Guard are giving to the flood response.”

They spent yesterday in Fargo, starting the morning with a briefing at Joint Task Force-East (JTFE), where the North Dakota National Guard manages their flood operations for eastern North Dakota.

“My intent … was just to show them how we’re actually managing all of the information and leveraging technology to help us manage our Common Operating Picture,” said Col. Steve Tabor, JTFE commander. “We walked them through a lot of the info that we’re leveraging from other agencies. We’ve got data from DoT, we have some of the city’s data that we’ve incorporated into GIS, we’ve actually walked them through the National Guard Mapper GIS program that we have.”

The use of GIS is one aspect Tetteh is anxious to share with his counterparts when he returns home.

“Info sharing through the GIS system is perfect, and it goes a long way in trying to develop a very rapid response to issues, and I think that it’s one of the issues, that among others, that we have in Ghana,” he said.

From right to left Col. Ron Solberg, the N.D. National Guard JTFE vice-commander, Col. Steve Tabor, the N.D. National Guard Joint Task Force East commander, Kofi Portuphy, the Ghana national coordinator for the National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO, and Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh, director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana Army, tour flood protection measure, April 14, along the Red River, Fargo, N.D. Kofi Portuphy serves as the Ghana national coordinator for the National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

After seeing how operations are managed, the Ghanaians took to the streets of Fargo on a tour led by Tabor to see the various flood products employed by the city, such as sandbags, Trap Bags, permanent flood walls, Big Bag systems, permanent earthen dikes, temporary clay levees, Hesco barriers and the AquaFence

North Dakota National Guard Joint Task Force East leaders and visiting Ghanaian dignitaries tour flood protection measures, April 14, including this aqua fence in Fargo, N.D. The Ghanaian dignitaries are visiting the North Dakota National Guard as part of a state partnership program between the African country of Ghana and the North Dakota National Guard. Since 2003, the North Dakota National Guard has developed a professional relationship with Ghana as part of the Department of Defense's State Partnership Program. This program aligns states with partner countries to encourage the development of economic, political and military ties.

“We had a good opportunity to show them a lot of different methods that the City of Fargo is using to help them protect the citizens of the community from the flood,” Tabor said. “I think they were duly impressed. … Once they got on top of the levees we pointed out where the river channel is normally versus today. That certainly put it into perspective for them, and they realized just how big of a flood event is going on here.”

As the entourage looked at the backyard of a home using a sandbag dike and the Big Bag system, Col. Ron Solberg, deputy commander for JTFE, commented on the water level.
“It’s usually down about 24 feet,” he said.

“24 feet? Really?” asked Portuphy in amazement.

Portuphy has seen a lot of disasters over the years. Friez referred to him as “the father of disaster management in Ghana,” also saying that “he’s the Craig Fugate of the United States; he’s the director of their FEMA.”

Indeed, Portuphy, who founded NADMO, has even trained with FEMA. Despite his wealth of experience, he still was impressed with operations in Fargo.

“We have seen since we arrived here on Sunday the EOCs for the National Guard, the national EOC centers, the state EOC centers in Bismarck and in Fargo here. We’ve seen the EOC centers also set up by the joint task force here …,” Portuphy said. “And what we have seen is overwhelming in terms of preparedness, in terms of response, in terms of coordination between the city EOC, the Joint Task Force EOC, the National Guard EOC; it’s worth emulating because we have learned a lot about what to do in terms of coordination.”

Besides coordination, the tools used in the flood were another key takeaway for the men.

“They were telling us today that Ghana actually has a lot of similar areas,” Tabor said. “When they get flood events happening, one of the reasons they get as severe as they do or as widespread is because they happen in areas where the terrain is very flat. So, I’m hoping today that some of the stuff we were able to show them will maybe provide some food for thought to help them deal with and mitigate some of the flood events that they experience over there, as well.”

There’s little doubt that the trip was valuable to both partners.

“It’s fantastic. I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Tetteh said. “I believe that there’s a lot to learn and a lot to take home. Right on from the joint operations center, right on from the emergency operations center, both at the state level and the county level, we have seen a lot that we think we can take back home.”

Their trip ends today with a bit of North Dakota culture and history during a tour of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. Before seeing it, Tetteh was already convinced during this, his first trip to North Dakota, that it’s a “very beautiful place (with) very hard-working people.”

Maj. Brock Larson, the North Dakota National Guard’s State Partnership Program director, summed up this week’s trip and the next step it took in the eight-year-old relationship between the partners.

“It was an incredible opportunity to be able to host Col. Tetteh and Mr. Portuphy, who represent Ghana’s military and the National Disaster Management Organization, here both at the same time to experience first-hand how our National Guard integrates with our Civil Services not only with manpower and equipment, but also technologically during emergency management operations,” he said.

“During the week we were able to visit all levels of emergency operation centers within the state and supporting agencies to gain their perspectives. This visit will only strengthen our already mature relationship with Ghana and help us focus our efforts during our future exchanges with Ghana.

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Tech Sgt. Kevin Reinhardt, left, and Staff Sgt. AnthonySalquist, both of the 119th Logistics Readiness Squadron, prepare 1.5-ton sandbags for filling with sand from a cement truck, so they can be used in flood fighting operations March 19 at the North Dakota Air National Guard, Fargo, N.D. The large sandbags are being readied for UH-60 helicopter sling-load operations, should they be necessary in an emergency to battle rising floodwaters anywhere in eastern North Dakota. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

The first week of the 2010 flood fight has come with numerous familiar tools and tasks for the North Dakota National Guard. After spending nearly 100 days on flood duty in 2009, one might expect few new experiences less than a year later. To the contrary, the first five days of flood operations brought three new tools or methods in holding back the rising floodwaters.

BIG BAG USA FLOOD BARRIER
Just a few days into flood operations, Guardsmen had the opportunity to work with Big Bags USA Flood Barriers, which are large pleated bags that unfold and are filled with sand. The bags stand 3 feet high with one system stretching 15 feet — or the equivalent capacity of about 500 sandbags. They’re fitted with a wood U-shaped frame, which allows each bag to be connected to the next with just four drywall screws.

“The Big Bag consists of five individual bags, each a cubic yard. They’re connected together with our patented U-frame design and open up like an accordion,” said Tom Spalj, a Big Bag representative with DRIPS (Disaster Relief & Innovative Protection Systems). “They’re about 60 to 70 pounds — depending on the water weight of the wood — apiece, but they’re so quick, they open up to 15 feet in less than 10 seconds.”

The bags can then be filled with sand using a skid-steer loader, front-end loader or other similar equipment. On Thursday, North Dakota Guardsmen used a skid steer to fill a line of bags that, along with a clay dike, are protecting the Timberline neighborhood in Fargo.

While the technology is new to the United States — only one other city has used it previously — it’s been used in Asia and Europe for about 15 years, with the design originating in Germany.

GIANT SANDBAGS
On Friday, Guardsmen filled 50 giant sandbags and secured them with cables at the North Dakota Air National Guard base in Fargo. Similar to bags placed aerially on breaches during last year’s flood fight, this year brings a slightly bigger size — a little more than the 1-ton bags used last year — and a faster way to fill them. Last year, a skid-steer loader with bucket attachment scooped sand to fill the bags. This year, Guardsmen used a cement mixer truck. When filled with sand, the cement truck could quickly and cleanly load the bags when they were held under the chute by the tines on a forklift.

“These bags will actually hold about 3,000 pounds but we can’t fill them that full. We’re getting somewhere between 2,000, 2,500 pounds, somewhere in there,” said Master Sgt. Gary Koslofsky, of the 119th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

After the bags were filled, a UH-60 Black Hawk crew from the Minnesota National Guard , which is assisting North Dakota through an Emergency Management Assistance Contract, or EMAC, practiced sling-loading and hoisting the bags.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Todd Sudheimer, the team is ready to not only place the giant sandbags, but to use their rescue hoist to evacuate people, if needed.

“We haul people around, we haul equipment around, I guess anything we’re asked to do,” he said.

AQUAFENCE

Airman 1st Class Casey Pritchard, of the 119th Civil Engineer Squadron, assembles a section of an experimental aqua fence March 17, Fargo, N.D. The aqua fence is being installed by the North Dakota Air National Guard as a test flood barrier to see if it might be effective for use in future flood protection. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

Guardsmen worked with a more innovative tool — another one never before seen in Fargo — on Wednesday when they installed more than 200 feet of AquaFence. Like the Big Bag barriers, the AquaFence concept comes from overseas. Manufactured in Norway, it consists of plywood panels that unfold, are secured open with aluminum poles and are then connected to the conjoining panel with a section of PVC.

“It’s not a lot of back-breaking work like chucking sandbags,” said Chief Master Sgt. Scott Terry, of Argusville, N.D., the noncommissioned officer in charge of the AquaFence assembly project.

Marius Hansen, managing director for AquaFence, said the product is reusable and has been tested up to 100 times.

“I think they’re trying to figure out something for the next 10 to 12 years,” said Master Sgt. Terry L. Babler of the city of Fargo.

The AquaFence was rented by the city to see how it performed on the stretch of river just north of NP Avenue in Fargo.

Despite the opportunities a number of Guardsmen have had to get first-hand experience with flood control products new to the area, many are doing familiar work. About 660,000 hours were dedicated to flood duty last year by North Dakota Guardsmen, during which time they sandbagged, provided traffic control points, patrolled dikes and served on quick reaction force teams ready to help in an emergency. Those roles are successfully being filled once again during this flood.

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Story by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

Senior Master Sgt. Scott Wagner, of the 119th Civil Engineer Squadron, drills a hole in pavement to secure an experimental aqua fence in place March 17, Fargo, N.D. The aqua fence is being installed by the North Dakota Air National Guard as a test flood barrier to see if it might be effective for use in future flood protection. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

North Dakota Air National Guard members became the first to install a new tool in the flood fight today when they placed a section of AquaFence in Fargo. The city has never used the product before, so the effort served as a demonstration of the ease with which it can be installed. As the Red River creeps toward its crest of 37 to 39 feet this weekend, the durability of the fence will be tested, as well.

“We’re trying it out to see if it’s a tool the city can use in future flood fights,” said Nathan Boerboom, an engineer for the City of Fargo. “If it works out, the city may purchase some and use in future flood fights.”

If by chance it doesn’t work as anticipated, a clay dike stands ready behind it.

Airmen put in a little more than 200 linear feet of the barrier near NP Avenue on the North Dakota-Minnesota border today.

The AquaFence is a reusable barrier system that consists of plywood boards at right angles to each other with aluminum bars anchoring the panels.

“It’s like a book that you just open up 90 degrees,” said Marius Hansen, managing director for AquaFence.

A PVC shield connects each panel, which also is bolted to the ground.

“It’s a very simple process,” said Helge Krøgenes, AquaFence chairman, who traveled from company headquarters in Norway to show the Airmen how the system worked.

Each panel requires four people to carry it into position, but only one person is needed to set it up.

“This is a demo process, so the ground has not been prepared yet, so the set up will be a little bit longer here than what you can expect at normal times,” Hansen said. He correctly estimated the two-plus hours the 14 Airmen would need to complete the project.

“We’re here with a representative of the company and he’s giving us some instruction on how it goes up, and the guys are staying busy putting it all together,” said Chief Master Sgt. Scott Terry, noncommissioned officer in charge of the project.

According to Boerboom, some advantages that the AquaFence appears to offer over the HESCO barriers used frequently in last year’s flood fight are that less clean up is involved and it’s less intrusive on property.

“It’s a pretty easy product to work with versus sandbags,” said Master Sgt. Terry L. Babler.

Since the North Dakota National Guard began flood operations on March 15, sandbagging has been the major effort in the Fargo area.

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Sgt. Murray Strom, of the 815th Engineer Company (Wishek, N.D.), directs a North Dakota Army National Guard quick response force truck into place March 21 at the rural Kindred home of Dave and Susan Hartfiel. The military personnel and equipment belong to a quick response force team responding to an emergency call at the Hartfiel house. They were on alert at their staging area at the Hickson, N.D., community center when they got the emergency call to create a flood barrier against the rising flood water, which had begun to creep into the lower level of the Hartiel house. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

One of the North Dakota National Guard’s quick reaction force teams responded to a call near Kindred today, where floodwaters threatened a home. The team, comprised of Soldiers from Wishek’s 815th Engineer Company, is stationed at the Community Center in Hickson, N.D.

Within 15 minutes of getting the call, they were at the white farmhouse a mile east of Kindred along the Sheyenne River with two 20-ton dump trucks filled with more than 1,000 sandbags, as well as a skid-steer loader and high-wheeled vehicle. The team of 10 Soldiers, along with the homeowners and neighbors, quickly started building a sandbag dike around the home.

“I’m very, very appreciative for you guys coming out,” said Dave Hartfiel, the homeowner. “Last year when this happened, we stayed high and dry. This year, even before it hit flood level, we started jumping the banks over in the back, and never really expected it to get this bad.”

As the Guardsmen worked to haul sandbags around the home, the water continued to rise quickly.

“This whole field filled up since we got here, in not even an hour’s time,” said 1st Lt. Dan Otto, the liaison officer between the county and the QRF teams.

Water was flowing down the driveway and into a storage building, where about 6 inches already stood under a horse trailer and boat there.

“Since we’ve been here, the water has come up. We’re building a dike around his house, and had we not shown up with the sandbags and the people to do that, his house would’ve went under,” Otto said.

Despite the cold water rising and splashing around them, the Guardsmen were glad to be there.

“I live in Fargo, so it’s nice to help the community,” said Sgt. Robert A. Rau, who was on the QRF team along with his brother, Spc. Steve Rau, of Bismarck.

Hartfiel, who was soaked with the cold water of the Sheyenne, as well, was glad for their help.

“These guys have been great. They’ve done a wonderful job,” he said. “I want to really thank you guys for coming out, and we really appreciate your help.”

The Guard gets the notice to respond on QRF missions such as this when the city or an individual contacts the Cass County Tactical Operations Center.

The Operations Center “will notify me that there’s a need, and if it’s something we can support, then I will call the team directly and I will say, “OK, guys, get ready to go,’” Otto said. “We’ll dispatch the sheriff or the deputy to meet the team at the site and they will escort them in, and then, of course, we notify our EOC [emergency operations center] and the other agencies so that everybody knows what’s going on.”

That process has played out three times in the past 24 hours.

“We’ve had two responses out of the Hickson site and one out of our Harwood site,” Otto said. “The first response was about 6 o’clock yesterday afternoon, we responded about a mile east of here. And then last night at about midnight our Harwood team responded up north, and then again this morning at about 8 o’clock, and that’s when these guys responded” near Kindred.

While not needed in a response yet this week, a paramedic from F-M Ambulance accompanies each Guard QRF team. This allows for faster medical assistance in rural areas, when needed, and provides additional safety for the medical personnel who last year sometimes had to venture into flooded areas with an ambulance, Otto said. Now, the Guard’s high-wheeled vehicles make for safer transportation and evacuation.

The North Dakota National Guard continues to have six QRFs stationed in Cass County — four in Fargo, one in Hickson and one in Harwood. Heavy engineer equipment, along with a supply of 1.5-ton sandbags that can be aerially placed, stand ready at the North Dakota Air National Guard base for bigger emergency responses.

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Nathional Weather Service flood risk map for Spring 2010

The National Weather Service (NWS) released a late winter / spring forecast today describing the threat of "imminent Midwest flooding", as well as flooding in the South and East. The risk map they have provided shows the highest risk to be in the Red River valley and the upper Mississippi River valley running through North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains is at above average risk for flooding.

NWS watches and warnings

The NWS describes a Midwest snow pack that is deeper and more widespread than in 2009, with cold temperatures in the region have prevented any melting until recently. 2009 saw record flood marks set along the Red River. April 2009 saw old records for high water eclipsed in many North Dakota river communities. At that time, the National Guard and regular military joined the Coast Guard for rescues and flood relief and protection missions.

The North Dakota National Guard began mobilizing for flood operations on March 15. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has declared a state of emergency in 28 counties and has activated the Minnesota National Guard. In West Virginia, National Guard troops will be engaged in debris removal beginning March 16.

Standard homeowner’s insurance or tenant’s insurance does not cover damage from flooding. The United States offers a flood insurance program where coverage may be found, providing financial protection in the event of a flood.