10/31/2007

By John Weiss
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

LA CRESCENT, Minn. -- The deluge of volunteers following the Aug. 18-19 floods in Fillmore, Winona and Houston counties was one of the things that went right.

Not having enough safety equipment for them was something that went wrong.
Fourteen city and county officials from flooded areas spoke Tuesday at a meeting of the Southeast Minnesota League of Municipalities in La Crescent, Minn., to let others know what to expect and what to do to improve their preparedness for such an emergency.

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The Associated Press

Waters that pushed over roads and into homes in parts of northeast Kansas by a slow-moving weekend storm were receding slowly Monday, but the National Weather Service still had a flood warning in effect for some areas.
After a helicopter tour of the flood-stricken area Sunday, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius declared a state of emergency in Jefferson, Jackson, Leavenworth and Douglas Counties. That authorized six state agencies, including the Kansas National Guard and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, to provide assistance.

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Peace Creek residents need help getting home

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For 6 hours Saturday, volunteer airboaters provided rides to and from the Peace Creek RV & Mobile Home Park to the Park's residents that wanted to inspect their homes, retrieve what belongings they could carry and secure their property. It was the first time since September 25th that the Park's owner and manager had been able to access the property and assess the damage.

October 4, 2004

Lake Wales, FL -- Residents of the Peace Creek RV & Mobile Home Park, near Lake Wales, Florida had not seen their homes for more than 7 days, since evacuating prior to the arrival of Hurricane Jeanne. Until today, they could only stand at the entrance of the Park off Hwy 27, look across a now one mile expanse of water that separated them from their homes and wonder what condition they were in or if they existed at all. The access road to the Park now lays under 4-8 feet of water and the new lake, created by Hurricane Jeanne, completely surrounds their homes. Not even the Park's owner or manager had been able to access the Park and assess the damage.

At 9:00 AM today volunteers from the Florida Airboat Association, organized by Robert Dummett of Lake Wales and safety committee chairman for the Association, arrived at the Park's entrance, unloaded their airboats and provided the residents with rides across the vegetation and debris filled water to the Park to inspect their homes.
For some the elderly residents and those who had moved to Florida from the North, it was the first time that they had ever ridden on an airboat and they found the rides a to be an exhilarating experience, helping them cope with the despair that they found within the Park.

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Two telecommunications employees were plucked from the flood swollen Chattahoochee by airboat after falling into the river at the Highway 166 Bridge, in Douglas County Georgia and being swept away in the 28 knot current and an extensive four hour search.

July 26, 2005 -- In the wake of Hurricane Dennis, two telecommunications employees, working to free tree limbs that had become entangled in the fiber optic cables that span the Chattahoochee River at Highway 166 Bridge, near Douglasville, Georgia, fell into the river's rushing waters, Monday night July 11, 2005 and were rapidly swept downriver in the darkness, as co-workers watched helplessly from the bridge above.

Rescue units from the Douglas County Fire-Rescue Department and law enforcement officers from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Georgia Department of Natural Resources, as well as a helicopter from the Atlanta Police Department responded to the incident.

Following a 2 1/2 hour air and water search, Richard Dunkin, 22 and Jeremy Rice, 28, were located, by the crew of a rescue airboat, perched in an uprooted oak tree drifting with the current down the Chattahoochee River approximately 4 miles from where they were last seen.

The two men were aboard a personal watercraft chainsawing trees that had become entangled in fiber-optic cables, when one of the loose cables, caught by the 28 knot current, began whipping in the air. The whipping cable made contact with the PWC flipping it and catapulting the two men into the water. Dunkin and Rice were quickly carried downriver and out of sight in the darkness.

The PWC had capsized and sunk in the muddy water. Dunkin and Rice drifted with the river's current until they were able to swim to a drifting tree, climb into its limbs and wait to be rescued.

The two men were plucked from the tree by the airboat crew and transported to Douglas County EMS personnel six miles downriver at the Highway 92 Bridge where the Douglas County Fire Department had established a command post.