In a slough of trouble

Friday morning, the Army Corp of Engineers inspected the Hadsell Slough and told Elk Mountain Mayor Morgan Irene and Public Works Director Gary Martinez he expected the slough to raise a foot overnight.

Elk Mountain is surrounded by water, with the Medicine Bow River on the east side of the town and the slough on the west side.

Four critical areas were identified, and Martinez was informed that the National Guard stationed in Saratoga would be sending troops to help with the flood effort.

Martinez, who moved to Elk Mountain from Arizona, had never dealt with a flood. He said he knew he needed to take immediate action.

When the 2011 flood hit Elk Mountain, the town collected the sandbags after the waters receded and saved the sand bags for a future flood.

For three years, they had been stored at the town's yard, covered by a heavy-duty tarp to protect the bags from the weather.

Volunteers Garrett and Colton Irene loaded sandbags onto a trailer and worked on the Medicine Bow River side of Elk Mountain, while Gary Martinez loaded sandbags into the bucket of his front-end loader and worked on the slough side of town.

In the meantime, Wyoming Department of Transportation employee Tyler Jones was filling an area identified as critical with rip-rap.

Two hours after the volunteers began placing sandbags, the National Guard arrived with a load handling system (LHS), with sandbags and four members of the National Guard to help place the sandbags.

Among the National Guard service members was Andy Hamby, a Saratoga High School graduate.

Volunteers Bob Meyer, Eli Hobbs and Joe Grilla joined the effort. By the time the National Guard had arrived, it was raining steadily.

Missionaries with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came from Hanna to help. "We heard they needed help here," Elder Mason Winter, of Utah, said.

Winter and Elder Noah Schields, of Annapolis, Md. were soaking wet as they helped Elk Mountain volunteers and the National Guard move sandbags into Elk Mountain resident's Don Youngblood's yard.

In anticipation of the rising slough and river, 32 National Guard were called out at 5 p.m. Friday to begin moving more sandbags, to build the wall higher at Youngblood's property.

Col. Scott Scholfield, officer in charge of the National Guard effort, and his Rapid Assessment Team (RAT) met with Mayor Irene to discuss where the sandbags needed to go along the Medicine Bow River and the Hadsell Slough.

Lt. Col. Dane Rodgers, Lt. Col. Rob Miknis, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Justin Study, Major Nicole Farnham, Capt. Tim Lockwood and Spec. 4 Dawn Francom went to the sites with Irene to determine what would be needed.

When working with civilian, such as the flood effort, the Air Force and Army National Guard come together as one unit, Lockwood said. This effort is led my Major General Luke Reiner, the Adjutant General of the Wyoming National Guard.

Morgan said the river and slough did come up Friday morning, but that it still had a long way to go before reaching 2011 levels.

At one point, the ground became so soggy from rainfall that a front-end loader was buried to its axles in the driveway of one of the homes in Elk Mountain, according to Bob Meyer, volunteer and town of Elk Mountain councilman.

"It took us an hour-and-a-half to get it out," Meyer said.

Along the Medicine Bow River, Paul Kissinger's property was identified as a critical area. The Irene boys had already been there placing sandbags earlier in the day and more were needed.

Kissinger pointed out his high water rock, which could still be seen, but his mother's high water rock was covered.

"Earlier, I saw some kids in my yard and I asked them 'What are you kids doing in my yard?'" Kissinger explained to the team. "They told me they were trying to save my house. I said, 'Okay, go ahead.'"

Kissinger expressed his gratitude to the National Guard.

Youngblood, who was watching the wall along the slough getting higher with sandbags, questioned out loud if the preparation was overkill. Later in the evening, Lockwood said the RAT team worked with local authorities to determine where the critical areas were and what needed to be done. "They're going to lay some down some sand bags as a preventative measure," Lockwood said.

"[We are going to] make sure we can minimize property damage if the levels do rise to the level of concern."

The 32 guardsmen staying through the night worked in three teams, to lay the sandbags and check the critical areas through the night.

The guard would stay through Saturday to make sure the slough and river had stabilized, Lockwood said.

Irene said the town had water bladders, but the Army Corps Engineer explained if the bladder is in the wrong place and the water hits it square, it will roll the bladder away and the sandbags are a better idea. This suggestion caused the town to change from using the bladders to using sandbags.

Irene said the town of Elk Mountain purchased the flood equipment in preparation for 2011, and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) reimbursed the town for most of what they had bought.

Elk Mountain had also purchased Haskel barriers from the 2011 flood, and they were stacked and all ready to go if needed. Irene said the townspeople were careful to remove the sand and save them for future use.

A Haskel barrier is a metal crate with fabric that is hooked together with wires and filled with sand which creates a two -foot-by-five-foot wall.

"We let Zeiger know they are here if we need them in a hurry," Irene said. John Zeiger is the Carbon County Emergency Management Coordinator.

Martinez not only had concerns about flooding in Youngberg's yard, but he was worried about a tree that was now in the middle of the swollen slough.

All of the sod around the roots had been swept away by the rushing current.

As the National Guard continued to work through dusk, part of the team was putting in and starting a generator with portable lights that allowed the National Guard to work through the night.

Fortunately, the rain the stopped, weather cooled down and Elk Mountain did not flood.

"After being a part of the activities over the weekend, it was reassuring that all of the preparation by all the levels of government worked as intended," Irene said. "It would be difficult for any of us to take on an emergency by ourselves, because we worked all together it was done more effectively."