June 20, 2008 - Clarksville, MO Flood

We finished up in Burlington and as we were loading the CATs and water pumps I began to make plans to follow the river south and see if other communities about to be flooded needed our help. The reports were coming in from down south that small country towns were bracing for the destructive floodwaters. This river that was sucking full homes into its waters just north of us was proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

But the decision of which town we would respond to next was just about to be made for me. My cell phone rang and the person on the other end of the line asked, “Is this Tad Agoglia?” I said yes. He went on to explain that he was calling from Missouri’s emergency operation center in the state capital. They heard we had a hovercraft and needed us to respond to a distress call where more than 70 volunteers were cut off from help by the Mississippi River in a sand bagging operation south of the city of Clarksville. I explained we were only about two hours away and could leave immediately. When I asked how he got my cell phone number he said, “Aren’t you the guy who came to Ava, MO, to power up our nursing home?”

The team was already tired from our non-stop travels from Picher, OK, Parkersburg, IA, Middletown, IN, Oakville, IA, Burlington, IA and now south to Clarksville…but we knew we had to respond.

The trip south was a bit tense. Time was of the essence, and we had to get there as soon as possible – but due to the size of our rigs and the winding roads we had to take our time and be safe. The roads were small, winding, and hilly in eastern Missouri. One false move and we would have drifted off these narrow roads. We would have defeated our purpose if we hurt someone else in the process of helping others.



By the time we arrived, we discovered that it was a false alarm. I called the capital to alert them, and we realized someone had their information wrong. As far as I was concerned, it was good news. At this point, the Mississippi was raging and had shown no mercy for the many cities left in the wake of its destruction. I then heard about a community just a few miles north that was in need of a hovercraft to help monitor levees and check the river levels. We left within the hour for Clarksville, MO.