FARGO, N.D. – Coast Guard rescue air boat and helicopter crews rescued 16 adults and a 14-month-old from rising flood waters here yesterday.
A Coast Guard HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., were requested to assist in the rescue of five adults and one 14-month-old child who were trapped in their home in Abercrombie, N.D. The crew successfully hoisted the residents and transported them to Wahepton Airport. No injuries were reported.
Also at approximately 8:30 a.m., local officials requested the assistance of three Coast Guard air boats and crews to help stranded residents in Oxbow, N.D. The following units participated in the operation and rescued 13 residents:
*Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, rescued five
*Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, rescued four
*Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores, Michigan, rescued four, including a man who was stranded in a tree
Rescued residents were transported to the Oxbow staging area, and no injuries were reported.
Coast Guard crews remain in the area and are prepared to assist in any way possible. Current Coast Guard assets in North Dakota include two Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART), one from St. Paul, Minn., which is positioned in Bismarck, N.D., and one from St. Louis, Mo., positioned in Fargo. Each DART is comprised of three flood punts and seven crewmembers. Two Coast Guard helicopters are available as well: one from Air Station New Orleans is enroute to Bismarck and the other, from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., is positioned in Fargo. Four airboats are in North Dakota as well. Three teams from Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., St. Claire Shores, Mich., and Marlbehead, Ohio, are in Fargo, and a team from Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is positioned in Bismarck.
Coast Guard air boats:
* Are designed for search and rescue and ice rescue operations on the Great Lakes.
* Can transport up to four survivors.
* Are 22-feet, 6-inches in length and 8-feet, 2-inches wide.
* Require a crew of three, one coxswain, or driver, and two crewmembers trained in ice rescue.
* Can operate at approximately 17-mph on ice.
* Are equipped with a 450-horsepower engine.
* Were used in urban search and rescue operations in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city on Aug., 23, 2005.
Below is a report from The Pentagon Channel about the Coast Guard assistance as the state continues to struggle with state wide flooding.
