Flood fight resumes in N.D., Minn.

 

 

(1)
Members of the Minnesota Wing busily prepare sandbags south of Moorhead in anticipation of flooding from the Red River, which flows through the Fargo, N.D./Moorhead area.

(2)
Cadet Capt. Lydia Stone (standing, with shovel) and Cadet 2nd Lt. Ben Leaf (holding bag), both of the St. Cloud Composite Squadron, fill sandbags.

(3)
(Foreground) The St. Cloud squadron’s logistics officer, 1st Lt. Jeff Dvorak, recently returned from deployment to Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps, hauls sandbags for placement.

(4)
Minnesota Wing members help lay sandbags.

Photos by 1st Lt. Steven Parker, Minnesota Wing

 
Maj. Richard J. Sprouse
Public Affairs Officer
Group 2
Minnesota Wing

NORTH DAKOTA -- “It’s go time.”

With that, 75 members of the Minnesota Wing are on the ground in the Fargo, N.D./Moorhead, Minn., area, filling sandbags and building dikes in areas threatened by the rising Red River.

“We’ve been checking and packing our gear, and finalizing our call-down list for past week in anticipation of getting the call,” said 1st Lt. Steven Parker, the St. Cloud Composite Squadron’s emergency services officer. Parker is a full-time student at St. Cloud State University who will be commissioned as a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant in May.

Twelve cadets and two senior officers departed St. Cloud Regional Airport at 9 p.m. Tuesday for the three-hour trip to the Fargo/Moorhead area. The St. Cloud squadron was working this morning south of Moorhead with members from the Anoka and North Hennepin composite squadrons, laying sandbags in flood-prone areas.

A man in his 70s greeted the CAP vans as they rolled up.

“He was awfully glad to see us,” Parker said. “This is a situation where a community is in need of our support; we’re here to help in any way we can.”

The ride to the site and a quick reconnaissance of the area told CAP members all they needed to know about what they’re facing.

“Waterways running high and the saturated ground have created ideal conditions for flooding,” Parker said. “We’re going to be busy.”

The Hutchinson, Red Wing, St. Croix, Mankato and St. Paul composite squadrons have similar missions at other locations. Other Minnesota squadrons are in route. Several senior members and cadets are working at the mission base at Fargo’s Hector International Airport.

Weather conditions brought both relief and concern to Parker.

“The weather is ideal for working outside, sunny and in the 50s, a far cry from the blizzard conditions we experienced during last year’s flood,” Parker said.

Ice jams on the Red River north of Fargo have slowed the rushing waters, but the warmer temperatures and sunshine will hasten their melt.

“That concerns everyone here,” Parker said. “We’re watching. It’s all we can do.”

Maj. Paul Pieper, the Minnesota Wing’s emergency services director, said Minnesota aircrews are standing by to assist. “We just finished up a series of training missions in anticipation of supporting disaster relief efforts in the Red River Valley, as well as other areas of Minnesota threatened with flooding.”

 “The flood fight is on again in North Dakota and Minnesota," Pieper said.

"It’s go time.”