Guard responds to Midwest ice storm

[unhappycamper]

Missouri Army National Guard soldiers supported local authorities in December by conducting door-to-door wellness checks in Barton County after the region was hit by a major ice storm.


Guard responds to Midwest ice storm
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Dec 13, 2007 13:55:16 EST

More than 140 National Guard troops have responded to the band of icy, mid-December storms that stretched from eastern Texas to the Ohio Valley and into northern New York and New England, according to the National Guard Bureau.

The storms brought freezing rain to more than 10 states and rain, sleet and snow to nearly half the country. Some states were coated in more than an inch of ice, closing roadways and leaving thousands in need of emergency assistance.

Soldiers in Missouri were on standby for most of the week after their governor declared a state of emergency and at least 22 troops responded. In addition, an Army Guard armory was used as a warming shelter, and soldiers provided security for residents who were displaced there.

They also provided transportation and cleared debris from roadways while soldiers from the 203rd Engineer Battalion provided generators and conducted door-to-door wellness checks in rural areas of Barton County.

In Oklahoma, the governor declared a state of emergency for all 77 counties in the state because of the freezing rain. At least 77 Guard members responded to requests for assistance, transporting 100 cots and opening a Red Cross warming shelter at the armory in Broken Arrow. They also provided fresh water to residents in Wikiupp and delivered more than 1,000 sandbags to Clatsop County.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/army_guard_storm_...