ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Spring rains and the spring thaw are just around the corner and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, is ready to assist Midwest communities with sandbags, plastic sheeting, pumps and engineering expertise.
Preparations for potential spring flooding have begun in communities along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and their tributaries. The Rock Island District is also preparing its team of flood area engineers to provide flood-fighting technical support and is ensuring flood-fight supplies are stocked and available to communities throughout the upper Midwest.
In preparation for spring flooding the District has reviewed and updated its flood response plan and is assisting local and county agencies with updating their flood plans. This month, approximately 50 specially trained Corps' flood area engineers are receiving refresher training and flood-assistance teams are being re-structured to provide flood-fighting assistance to communities within the District's 78,000 square-mile area of operations.
Technical expertise is only a part of the District's public assistance. Flood-fighting supplies are also being procured for distribution to local organizations, cities, counties and states. The District currently has a stock of approximately 2 million sandbags, 2 thousand rolls of polyethylene sheeting, and 100 pumps ranging in diameter from 4 to 16 inches with the capability of pumping up to 10,000 gallons of water per minute.
To expedite the process of obtaining flood-fight supplies from the Corps, the Rock Island District is coordinating with local, county and state Emergency Operations personnel on the procedures for requesting flood-fight commodities.
The Rock Island District provides flood-fighting assistance and supplies to communities within its 78,000 square-mile area covering the eastern two-thirds of Iowa, the northern half of Illinois and corners of Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. This area includes 314 miles of the Mississippi River and 268 miles of the Illinois Waterway and their tributaries. The District is the national supplier of Innovative Flood Fight Products for the Corps of Engineers and the Regional Flood Fight Product Distribution Center for the upper Midwest.
For more information about the District's emergency response activities, visit us on the web @: http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/EmergencyMgt/
