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.

May 10, 2008 - Racine, MO Tornado

Tim, Seth, Rob, David and I sat down in a cool coffee shop today just to catch up and talk about something besides work and disasters. Our plan was to get some coffee, have a good dinner, I would get back to my computer to take care of emails, and the guys would go see a movie. I usually always have my laptop with me so as we were at the coffee shop I noticed weather reports were coming in about multiple tornado warnings and watches. A tornado had just touched down a few hours away on the border of MO and OK. With one eye on the computer and the other on a map, it was not long before our planned day of rest was over. We headed to the hotel, grabbed our bags, started the trucks, and headed out.

Just a few short hours later we arrived in Newton County, MO, around 11 pm. We pulled over at a small gas station to look at a map and talk to some local people when a fire fighter came up to my truck. He explained that just up the road was his firehouse. They just called off the search and rescue for the night due to downed power lines everywhere but there were still houses and debris blocking their way into town.

We drove a few miles up the road to the firehouse, introduced ourselves, and explained how we could help. The firefighters were so happy we were there and explained the challenges they were having getting through the debris. I decided to head down to the emergency manager’s office to introduce myself to the man in charge (whose name I won’t give.). I always find out who is in charge. In some cases it’s the fire chief, sheriff, or mayor but in this case the county had an emergency manager. I introduced myself, explained what I had been told by the fire department in Racine, and let him know what resources were available to him free of charge.

For the next eight hours he had me wait there and kept saying, “I’ll call you when I need you.” I attempted to get his attention on two separate occasions and explained how the fire department in Racine was in need of our help – but since he was in charge of the county’s emergency management I was not going to do anything without his permission. He finally said he and his people did not want any help. I thanked him for his time, shook his hand, and wished him luck. I left the county offices and returned to the Racine fire department to tell everyone of the emergency manager’s decision. Everyone was sad because help was badly needed.

As we were saying our goodbyes, one of the firemen got a call on his cell phone. Someone from his family was found dead in one of the homes, and he broke down in tears. I was so upset that we could not help there but I had to respect the wishes of the local government leaders. The team followed my lead, and we started the trucks and headed out of town to a neighboring city that got hit by the same tornado. Though I was upset I knew there was a job for us to do – if it was not in this town, it would be in the next one.

We arrived in Picher, OK, by 3 pm. The road was blocked but the police officer called the fire department explaining that help had arrived. Two hours later we were escorted in to the city by the fire department. They provided us a place to park all of our equipment right in the heart of town next to the fire house where it would be safe and watched 24 hours a day. We then began talks with the city mayor and fire chief about where our equipment was needed the most.

May 9, 2008 - A Rest

The nearest city is Springfield, MO. We just arrived and are going to stay here until our next response. This may be a good place to get some laundry done, get some good food, and hopefully the men can get some rest. There are a few things we need to repair on the equipment, which we will get done tomorrow in the morning.

May 3, 2008 - Ava, MO Tornado

The drive to Ava, MO, was not as easy as we thought. Most of the roads were windy and mountainous. We arrived in Ava around 12:30 this morning. The town was as dark as could be. We found the streets surrounding the nursing home and walked them by foot with flashlights. We had to make sure that the roads were big enough and the trees were cut back enough to bring our tractor trailers through and also that we could get close enough to the nursing home.

All the nurses and many of the patients were congregated in the darkness in the dining room. It was the coolest room in the building on this hot summer night. When Tim walked in to find out who was in charge and the nurses found out we were there with the generator, he was bombarded with hugs. It turns out the Red Cross told them we were coming, and they were anticipating our arrival.

Earlier in 2008, we added a 230KW multi-output generator to our fleet specifically for the purpose of powering up hospital emergency rooms, nursing homes, and other emergency and governmental buildings. At this point I’m glad we did. The facility property manager, Steve Wilkerson, and his wife, Angie, greeted us. Over the next few days we were able to get to know Steve, Angie and many others at the nursing home as we came to power up their nursing home as well as pull some of the very large trees off their property. At times I would see our cameraman David playing a piano in the dining room while singing along with residents of the nursing home surrounding him in their wheelchairs.