Civil Air Patrol helps with NW Iowa flood relief

In the wake of historic rains and flooding that have significantly impacted a portion of the nation’s heartland late last month, Civil Air Patrol members took to the skies in a massive relief effort that also included online examination from afar of the devastation.

The massive flooding affected half of Iowa and transformed sections of quiet streams into raging waters. Rising floodwaters covered all but the roofs of homes, drowned farmlands, and damaged hundreds of businesses in portions of Iowa, South Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. The rainfall transformed areas that in times of drought are like small dustbowls, and waterways normally more like streams than rivers.

“In places, the Big Sioux River, which is a gentle, meandering prairie stream, was miles wide as it headed toward the Missouri River, inundating farmland as well as communities such as McCook Lake and Canton,” said Lt. Col. Todd Epp, South Dakota Wing chief of staff.

CAP flew 31 sorties (flights) totaling 80.7 hours of flight time in Iowa, providing over 3,000 images of the devastation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage assessment.

The Iowa and Minnesota wings provided five aircraft and crews, while the Minnesota and South Dakota wings provided two aerial photographers each. The Tennessee Wing sent an aircraft equipped with a multispectral aerial imaging system and a crew to operate it.

“The overall response has been fantastic,” said Col. Sean McClanahan, Iowa Wing commander.

In three of the hardest-hit states — Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota — CAP’s geospatial program completed 4,157 damage assessments. Some 3,480 structures were affected to varying degrees from minor damage to destroyed. The majority — 2,916 — were affected in Iowa, along with 413 in Minnesota and 151 in South Dakota. CAP’s geospatial personnel accounted for nearly 90 hours of volunteer assistance in those states.

Participants in this mission included new and veteran members, whose professions outside of CAP included medical, legal, education, media, and IT fields, just to name a few. CAP is an organization made up of people from all different backgrounds.

“Missions like these are just one of many ways that we can give back to the community that supports us every day,” said 1st Lt John Bloomquist, Burlington Iowa Unit Commander. Bloomquist and the Commander of the Davenport Iowa Composite Squadron, Capt Travis Johnson, were both directly involved in this mission along with 28 other members of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Tennessee Wing.

“CAP is about service, whether that be serving through operational missions like flood damage and missing persons missions or helping develop the next generation of leaders and aerospace/STEM professionals through our cadet youth program,” said Col. Michael Marek, South Dakota Wing commander, in a recent interview.

Marek went on to say Civil Air Patrol members are ready daily to serve. “Major missions like this reaffirm that our daily efforts in CAP make a real-world difference,” he said.