185th Air Refueling Wing Joins Other Units In Relief Efforts

  • Published
  • By Capt. Kevin Heineman
  • 185ARW/PA
6-16-08 --  Nearly 500 Iowa Air National Guard members from the 185th Air Refueling Wing (ARW), Sioux City, Iowa have been called to duty to provide support for evacuated and displaced residents in several eastern Iowa cities and towns ravaged by the recent river flooding.

According to Iowa Governor Chet Culver, sixteen people died as a result of the recent storms across the state of Iowa. The storms have raised several Iowa rivers to historic water levels flooding roads, homes and businesses. The most severe flooding to date has occurred in the Cedar Rapids area where more than 20,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

The 500 185th Air Refueling Wing members were part of the activation including nearly 3,500 Army and Air Guard troops across the state called to service. They are providing drinking water, filling and dispersing sand bags, and aiding local law enforcement with security and traffic control as well as many other duties. (See video)

Civic leaders prepared the best they could, however the amount and speed of the flood surge was just too much. As flood waters breached dams and levees in Cedar Rapids, the main task at hand was keeping an evacuation mission from becoming a rescue mission.

As the waters were rising in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 185th ARW members were tasked with security on many streets in and around the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area directing vehicle traffic away from the severely flooded areas.

Tech. Sgt. Gregg Pedersen, from the 185th ARW in Sioux City, Iowa, and other Airmen from Iowa and Nebraska were mobilized with little notice and made the trip across the state where they are now assisting local authorities with a variety of missions in Cedar Rapids. "They need traffic control. There is so much flooded right now and the police are spread so thin," said Pedersen. "It rained all day on us today, and it rained hard. We're doing traffic control. There are ten guys down here on foot patrol to keep people out of the water."

Jon Krews, the mayor of Cedar Falls, Iowa, near Cedar Rapids, is very appreciative of the efforts of the National Guard members in his town. "They have worked with our police department to help secure areas for the safety of our citizens and we appreciate that very much," said Krews. "We appreciate the quick response and the ability of the Iowa National Guard to mobilize and get some troops in here to help us."

Officer Ron Johnson from the Cedar Rapids police department explained how the Iowa National Guard is helping local law enforcement accomplish their mission of keeping people safe. "The Guard was able to get some of their larger vehicles into areas where our patrol vehicles could not reach," said Johnson. "We were able to help people we would not have ordinarily been able to assist."

Helping assist in the security efforts is Staff Sgt. Adam Conlon from the 185th ARW. "Our tasks started out as foot patrols, then we got tasked to do sand bagging. Now we are back to doing foot patrols," said Conlon. "Security is important to help prevent people from injuring themselves and preventing them from getting to (other) people's stuff."

Staff Sgt. Shane Potts of the 185th ARW helped fill and disperse sandbags around the local hospital in Cedar Rapids before starting foot patrols. "Our foot patrols consist of walking up and down the streets making sure nobody turns down a wrong street and assisting them in finding a safe route to where they need to go," said Potts.

Potts, who is from South Sioux City, NE, said he does not mind helping out the flood victims in the state of Iowa because the folks are so appreciative of the National Guard efforts in Cedar Rapids. "They are happy to have us here. On every street corner there are people asking us if we need help. This is what we are here for, to help them, the citizens are working very well with us," said Potts.

Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis, Adjutant General for the state of Iowa, said that along with helping to get local law enforcement into areas to assist the citizenry, Iowa National Guard members also assisted in transporting "Strike" teams around Cedar Rapids. Strike teams are a combination of fire and police department personnel, health inspectors, as well as officials from electric and gas companies. They are responsible for inspecting homes for safety issues prior to evacuees returning to their homes.

Dardis said the primary effort of the Iowa National Guard so far has been the security of the flood areas and focusing on response to recovery. After the Cedar Rapids area is deemed secure and the waters recede, Guard members will remain in Cedar Rapids to assist in cleanup efforts. "We will do anything we can to assist the citizens of Iowa to recovery from this disaster," said Dardis.

Governor Chet Culver has declared 83 of Iowa's 99 counties across the state of Iowa disaster areas. Twenty-nine of those counties have been declared disaster areas under the Presidential Disaster Proclamation.

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