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The remnants of Hurricane Ike that
smashed the Texas coastline on September 12, 2008, dumped
over 10 inches of rain on several Northwestern Indiana
counties causing lake, rivers, tributaries and levies to
spill over their banks and cause massive flooding.
On September 16th, Spc. Sarah
Cole of the Indiana Army National Guard 638th ASB, ties off
a sandbag at a sandbag-making operation in
Gary,
Indiana.
Photo by Sgt. Mike Krieg, Indiana National Guard.
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Spc. Megan Parks of the Indiana Army
National Guard 1638th Transportation Company, tops off a
sandbag at a sandbag-making operation at 35th Ave.
in Gary,
Ind.
Photo by Sgt.
Mike Krieg, Indiana National Guard.
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Pvt. Bryant Moore (left) and
Spc.Timothy Holder, both with the Indiana Army National
Guard 1638th Transportation Company, add more reinforcing
sandbags to a failing levy
at 35th Ave and Chase St. in Gary, Ind.
Photo by Sgt.
Mike Krieg, Indiana National Guard.
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By Sunday afternoon, September 14, the remnants of
Hurricane Ike had dumped more than 10 inches of rain on northwestern
Indiana
which caused lakes and tributaries from
Lake Michigan
to swell beyond capacity. As a result, the Indiana Department of
Homeland Security called the Indiana National Guard.
During
Operation Indiana Ike more than 150 Guard Soldiers helped the
hurricane ravaged areas with security patrols, search and rescue
missions, and filling and placing sandbags.
“Stuff like this is pretty much why I joined the
National Guard. It’s helping people out in their time of need. I’ve
been to Iraq,
and I thought I had done my duty there, but it’s assignments like
this that is really important to me,” said Sgt. Travis Hackett with
the 738th Medical Company headquartered in Monticello,
Ind.
Lake, Porter, Laporte,
Newton,
St. Joseph,
Benton
and Stark counties were hit hard as was the
Munster
community, west of the
Gary
armory. Flood waters had breached the banks of the Little Calumet
River that runs through the middle of the town and soon engulfed the
entire community with three- to-four-feet of water.
The high
waters soon flooded the lower floors of the Munster Med-Inn, a five
story nursing home, shutting down power and life support to the
entire complex, forcing the evacuation of more than 150 patients to
other hospitals in dry areas.
“We have to
get all of these people out of this flooded building and get them to
higher ground. The patients are pretty upset that they have to go
through all of this, but they are relieved to see us here, pitching
in with the local responders and getting the job done. That’s what
we’re here for,” said 1st Sgt. Steven Staley, the top enlisted
Soldier with Forward Support Company, 113th Engineer Battalion.
Staley was in charge of the Guardsmen carrying residents out of the
flooded building.
The medical
facility staff praised the efforts Indiana Guard Soldiers and fire
department personnel, and other emergency responders who helped with
the evacuation.
“These
Soldiers have been working their tales off for the last six hours
and into the night taking residents down each floor. We have all
been a team today and it’s been wonderful. “, said Kathy Riley, a
licensed practitioner nurse at Munster Med-Inn. “We were so glad to
see the uniforms roll in because I was starting to get scared!” said
Riley.
With no
electricity to power the elevators, the residents were carefully
carried, one by one, down the dimly lit emergency exit stairwells to
awaiting military vehicles and civilian ambulances.
Staff Sgt.
Jerrod Martin, Detachment 18, Recruiting and Retention, made several
trips up and down the dark, five-story stairwell during the
evacuation.
“This is definitely the best thing the National Guard
could have done. We are a community base organization, and it’s a
reminder that we still have a state mission to do,” said Martin. In
addition to Martin, 12 more Indiana Army National Guard
recruiters helped with the flood relief in northern Indiana.
Bob Young,
Laporte County Highway Department superintendent, also praised the
Indiana National Guard who showed up in his county with a high-speed
sandbagging machine.
“The Guard is
very instrumental in our efforts here. Before you guys showed up, we
were just using shovels and it was very time consuming. But, with
that four-station sandbagging machine you brought, and your
knowledgeable Soldiers manning the controls, we can make 10 times as
many bags and be way ahead of the game, now,” said Young. “It’s a
very comforting feeling knowing that the National Guard is standing
by with this kind of heavy equipment and manpower to help us. I’ll
sleep a lot better tonight.”
Other units assisting in
Operation Indiana Ike with flood relief were Joint Force
Headquarters,
