ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (June 26) – In response to the recent heavy rains and the National Weather Service forecasts predicting the potential for major flooding in areas along the Upper Mississippi River and tributaries, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, activated its Emergency Operations Center today for the third time since April.
The Corp’s Rock Island District, through its Emergency Management mission, is available to assist cities and communities with flood-fight supplies and technical support upon request. Those efforts include deploying specially trained Flood Area Engineers (FAEs) to provide technical assistance to local emergency managers and providing expedient flood fighting equipment and supplies to include HESCO barriers, sandbags, pumps and plastic sheeting.
The District has approximately 100 specially trained flood area engineers who contact drainage and levee districts to coordinate flood-fighting activities and ensure flood-fighting supplies are available if needed. The District has a stock of five million sandbags, 107 pumps, 29,500 linear feet of HESCO barriers and 1800 rolls of plastic sheeting ready for deployment. Additional flood-fight material will be procured as needed. Currently, 13,000 sandbags and 2 pumps have been dispatched to local communities to assist in their flood-fighting efforts.
The Rock Island District’s Emergency Management mission serves communities in a 78,000-square-mile, five-river-basin area which includes Iowa and Illinois and portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri. Communities facing flood events can request Corps assistance through their state emergency management agency.
For more information please visit our Rock Island District Flood Web site at www.mvr.usace.army.mil/About/Offices/EmergencyManagement/2013Flood.aspx.
Release no. FY13-06-31