June 21, 2008 - Clarksville, MO Flood

We quickly heard of the troubles Clarksville, MO, was having holding back the river. The roads to Clarksville were winding and narrow, which proved challenging as we navigated our fleet of over a million dollars of equipment down to this little river town. The only way into town was through this extremely steep and narrow road. When we arrived, a local emergency official greeted us and immediately put us to work.

The town’s sandbagging operation consisted of volunteers making bags and loading trucks, which at times took hours. Seth and Rob quickly got the two cranes ready and positioned to load the piles of sand bags volunteers had made the previous days. The National Guards was there equipped with dump trucks. We loaded their trucks one after the other, only taking about five minutes per truck. This sped up the building of the levees because the sand bags were now getting to the river much quicker.

We were also asked to escort the National Guard engineers to buildings facing danger on the Mississippi River using our hovercraft. Levees needed to be inspected from the river side, and measurements needed to be taken to find out whether the river was rising or falling – and whether the worst was ahead or behind us. The water was filled with debris such as trees and railroad tracks that were barely sticking out from the water. Two by two I ferried the military as well as local emergency officials to where they needed to go on the unpredictable river.

The area along this part of the river has very large hills. They seemed to be blocking our cell phone service so we had to use our satellite phone system. The team was able to keep in contact since we were basically spread all throughout the town.

People magazine showed up to do an article on me. It was a bit odd to stand there in this disaster area and take photos for a magazine. I hope it helps bring exposure to the First Response Team, and people will start supporting us.

We are going to stay here for a few days to help with sandbagging, pumping water, and providing communication – as well as being prepared to help out with water rescues if needed.

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.