JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Missouri National Guard task force played a role in rescuing 64 cattle and three horses surrounded by flood waters near Charleston, Mo. earlier this week after a Civil Air Patrol aircraft flying surveillance missions in support of flood relief efforts spotted them, said Capt. Dan Schepers, a joint collection manager for the Missouri Air National Guard.
The Missouri Guard currently has approximately 760 Soldiers and Airmen on emergency duty in southeast Missouri in response to flood conditions
Schepers said the herd, estimated to be worth about $100,000, was in danger of being washed away as flood waters rose steadily in the wake of heavy rainfall that had saturated the area the previous week.
He said the herd was spotted in a video shot by the CAP air crew during a recon mission and was cut off by the flooding.
“Some of them were already in water,” said Schepers, as he stressed the urgency of the situation.
Schepers said the Guard immediately notified Christine Portmann, lead coordinator of the Animal Cruelty Task Force for the Humane Society of Missouri.
Portmann, who is helping staff the Emergency Operations Center of the State Emergency Management Agency at the Ike Skelton Training site here during the current state emergency, took over coordination of the rescue.
“The cattle were actually on the levee, and the water was up to the levee,” Portmann said, “but they were surrounded by water.”
Misti Preston, the Missouri Department of Agriculture director of strategic communications said when Portmann contacted department representatives they told her the agency just happened to have stock trucks in the vicinity evacuating thousands of hogs and would be able to help.
Schepers said the cattle and horses were spotted about 6 p.m. and were salvaged over the course of several hours, and by the time he arrived the next morning for a daily briefing, he said, “I was amazed to find out they had all been rescued.”
Preston said in addition to the cattle, 2,750 pigs and another 2,000 piglets were evacuated.
In all, the department used 22 trucks to haul the sows, and three trucks with trailers to move the piglets, she said, adding they were evacuated to the Missouri communities of New Hamberg and Benton, as well as to a site in neighboring Kentucky.
It took another six cattle trucks to remove the livestock herd, and two trailers for the horses, said Preston.
During the rescue operation, Portmann said Guard representatives regularly checked in with her to see how it was progressing.
“They were very interested,” she said. “They kept coming over for updates.”
Schepers said while there was definitely a degree of luck involved, the cattle rescue mission would not have happened but for the interagency cooperation, and he especially praised the CAP for providing invaluable surveillance assets in support of ongoing flood relief operations.
“The Civil Air Patrol is very responsive,” he said. “They are helping to fill a lot of information gaps. They’re our eyes in the sky.”
Portmann also had high praise for the Guard.
“They were absolutely wonderful,” she said. “This isn’t the first time we’ve worked with the Guard on disasters. We’ve worked with them during [Hurricane] Katrina, and we’ve worked on disasters locally and nationally.
“You can’t ask for a better response,” said Portmann.
Missouri National Guard members are responding quickly to changing conditions in the southeast Missouri region.
Missouri counties, Butler, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and Stoddard, are all engaged in the flood response efforts while Morehouse and Canalou continue to face rising waters, where residents and local authorities work together to help save those communities.
Missions in southeast Missouri continue to expand, including sandbagging, evacuation support, levee monitoring, route reconnaissance, security, traffic control, and door-to-door safety checks.
Units supporting the flood response include: 70th Troop Command, Jefferson Barracks; Whiteman Air Force Base/St. Louis; 139th Airlift Wing, St. Joseph; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 35th Engineer Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood; 175th Military Police Battalion, of Columbia; the 1140th Engineer Battalion, Cape Girardeau; the 1221st Transportation Company, of Dexter, Portageville and Sikeston; 1140th Forward Support Company, Cape Girardeau; the 1138th Military Police Company, of West Plains and Springfield; the 1138th Engineer Company, of Farmington and Fredericktown; the 1175th Military Police Company, of St. Clair and St. Louis; the 880th Engineer Detachment, Perryville; the 220th Engineer Company, Festus; the 1438th Engineer Company, of Macon and Kirksville; 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment of Jefferson City; Missouri Wing Civil Air Patrol and the Joint Operations Center at Joint Force Headquarters in Jefferson City.
Missouri’s Soldiers and Airmen will continue working in support of local authorities until released by the governor.