Guard Leader Recalls Flood Effort - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Guard Leader Recalls Flood Effort

2012 has been a much quieter year for the North Dakota National Guard.
Last year, flood fights were being waged all over the state -- from Devils Lake, to Bismarck-Mandan, and of course in the Mouse River valley.
Some battles to keep water away continue...while others are over.
We talked recently with Major General David Sprynczynatyk about what his men and women did a year ago to help in the region.
Here is Perry Olson.

In 2011, they coordinated -- protected -- alerted -- and basically did everything in the Mouse River valley.  The North Dakota National Guard was stretched thin thanks to a widespread flood battle throughout the state...but Minot was certainly the epicenter...

"What I see from our solders and airmen is that they gave everything they had to try and protect things -- lives and property across North Dakota."

Major General David Sprynczynatyk saw firsthand the work of the soldiers he oversaw during the flood fight...and is especially moved when he sees video like this -- a guard member feverishly sprinting through neighborhoods letting residents know it was time to go...

"Everytime I see that video clip it sends a shiver down my spine.  Thinking about what our people went through, thinking about what they tried to do and how hard they worked and I hope and pray we don't have to go through anything like that again."

Whether it was a task as grim as this -- telling people it was time to leave their soon-to-be-flooded homes -- or simply keeping traffic moving on the congested streets of Minot, 2011 was a busy one for the guard.  It was work during the day -- and work at night, trying to hold water back as long as possible that hundreds of guardsmen and women did...in the end it wasn't enough of course, but not for a lack of effort...

"Our soldiers, our airmen, were as heartbroken as the community itself.  They had put everything they could in into trying to protect the community, they thought up to the last minute that they might be able to save all of Minot but mother nature over ruled..."

But not without a stand-up fight -- one year ago...in Minot, Perry Olson, KX News.