TOPEKA, Kan. - A late-autumn blizzard that dropped nearly two feet of snow left motorists stranded across areas of northwest Kansas, prompting Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to issue a state declaration of emergency for the areas affected by the storm. First responders were unable to respond to each of the large number of emergency calls.
Enter the Kansas National Guard.
Two Stranded Motorists Assistance Response Teams, including four vehicles and 10 personnel with the recently activated 997th Brigade Support Battalion, were activated early Nov. 18 to patrol roads and highways across northwest Kansas, searching for stranded motorists.
By the time the mission ended over the weekend, the Guard teams had rescued four people and three pets from stranded vehicles, Guard officials said.
The teams assisted local law enforcement and emergency personnel in providing assistance to motorists whose vehicles had gotten stuck or slid off roadways. The Kansas National Guard teams patrolled roads in primarily four counties: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Sherman and Thomas.
Detachment 1 of the 997th is based out of the Colby, Kansas, armory, which is the westernmost armory in Kansas and one of two located within the northwest region of the state.
Staff Sgt. Cody Breon, detachment readiness noncommissioned officer, 997th BSB, said he didn't have much notice that his service was needed, as he received the call at 2:15 a.m to report.
"We didn't really have a lot of heads up that we were going to be utilized," he said. "So we got really lucky that some of my local guys and myself answered our phones that early."
One of the recovery teams responded by 5 a.m., and headed north on Kansas Highway 25, which was the priority area at the time, according to Breon.
Most of the people that the Soldiers encountered had already contacted a tow company and were waiting for recovery, but Breon said the Soldiers did give four stranded people a ride into town and were able to rescue a wounded dog and take it to a local shelter.
"This is one of the cool things about the National Guard," Breon said. "You get to help your community, and that's what this western Kansas (Colby) station is for, for missions exactly like this."
Emergency response efforts were coordinated among state and local agencies, including Kansas Division of Emergency Management, Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Highway Patrol and county emergency managers and local law enforcement.