RAPID CITY, S.D. - The South Dakota Army National Guard (SDARNG) has placed more than 320 personnel on state active duty to assistance the flooding operations being conducted by emergency management agencies in North Dakota.
The SDARNG has officially been tasked to support the massive flooding in North Dakota by an emergency management assistance compact (EMAC). The request for Soldiers and equipment was generated from North Dakota's joint operation center (JOC) to the South Dakota's JOC to assist flooding operations.
North Dakota is experiencing historic flooding conditions along the Red River near Fargo, and has risen to 40.32 earlier today - more than 22 feet above flood stage and inches more than the previous high water mark of 40.1 feet set in 1897. It is expected to crest as high as 43 feet on Saturday. Fargo's main dike protects the city at the 43 foot level.
By the Numbers (SDARNG support assets):
- Company A, 139th Brigade Support Battallion (Redfield/Watertown/Miller)
- 72 personnel
- Left Camp Ripley, MN this morning to assist with monitoring of dikes in Fargo
- One palletized loading system
- Two Humvees
- Majority of personnel transported by two chartered buses
- Currently in Fargo providing support
- 153rd Headquarters Support Company / 153rd Forward Support Company (Huron/Parkston)
- 104 personnel
- 21 Humvees
- Three wreckers
- Two fueling trucks
- Four two and a half ton trucks
- Four support vehicles (pick-ups, government vehicles)
- 1742nd Transportation Company (Sioux Falls/Flandreau)
- 127 personnel
- Estimated time of arrival around 2 p.m. (CDT)
- 10 M1915 semi trucks and trailers
- Able to haul equipment, sandbags, anything North Dakota needs to be transported
- Air Assets:
- Nine personnel
- Two Black Hawk helicopters
- Stationing at Air National Guard base in Fargo and awaiting mission
Sand bagging operations continue in Columbia along the Moccasin Creek near Aberdeen, to help protect power transformers and electrical equipment. Eighteen Soldiers and equipment remain staged in the Aberdeen area supporting the flooding in Columbia where the James and Elm Rivers meet, and Moccasin Creek near Aberdeen.
The equipment in those areas include: three Humvees, 11 heavy expanded mobility tactical trucks (with fuel, wrecker and cargo transport capabilities), four bridge boat transporter trucks and two boats.
Five 5-ton dump trucks from the 842nd Engineer Company, of Spearfish, are currently en route with more than 10 personnel to Fargo to assist the state in recovery operations along the Red River.
To prepare for today's current flood fighting missions, the South Dakota National Guard has extensively prepared to respond to emergency conditions anywhere in the state. The Guard is responding with emergency support and will continue to respond with appropriate personnel and resources when ordered by the governor.