COUNCIL BLUFFS — They called it "worst-case scenario" training, but at least one official said his confidence in the levee system surrounding Council Bluffs grows daily.
Soldiers with the Iowa National Guard, Council Bluffs firefighters and Iowa Department of Natural Resources officers joined forces Thursday to practice water rescues on a flooded portion of Interstate 29.
Three DNR boats ferried Guard soldiers into the river water that washed over I-29 southbound east of the North 25th Street interchange.
A National Guard troop transport then drove into the river water and the soldiers were swapped out of the boat and into the troop carrier. The exercise was to simulate the transfer of people in the event of a large-scale rescue operation.
Sgt. Rodney Briggs, who oversees the Iowa National Guard unit currently on rotation in Pottawattamie County, said the training is a good way for the soldiers to work with city and state employees.
"If a levee fails, this gives us the opportunity to just act; it becomes second-nature," Briggs said. "Plus it gives us the opportunity to work with civilian assets and get comfortable working with them so that in the moment of truth there is no lapse in communication."
Briggs, who has been in the Bluffs for little more than a week, said while the training is useful, it is truly a worst-case scenario. He said he and his soldiers have faith in the levee system.
"The complete structure is sound," he said.
Briggs said the National Guard soldiers find animal holes and sand boils along the levee, but they continue to catch them early.
"Everything we find, we find early; the levee is sound," he said. "Everyday that I am on the ground, I feel more comfortable about the situation."
Council Bluffs public information officer Don Gross said the 120 soldiers in the community make up 40 to 50 percent of the contingent working to keep the city dry.
"We rely quite heavily on them," he said, and the training exercise keeps everyone on their toes after 60 days of battling the floodwaters.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
