Forty-five Iowa National Guard soldiers are being deployed to Missouri to help with the flood fight there.
The Iowa Guard soldiers, plus 20 vehicles, are going to High Ridge, Missouri to help purify water for drinking because residents have lost drinking water service because of the flooding. Flooding in areas of Missouri is worse than it was during the historic flood of 1993. The water treatment plant that serves about 6,500 customers in High Ridge and Murphy, Missouri, was contaminated with flood water.
The Iowa National Guard soldiers who’re on their way to Missouri come from units based in Cedar Rapids, Oelwein and at Camp Dodge in Johnston. The Iowa Guard soldiers are taking 15 state-of-the-art water purification units that they call “Hippos” to Missouri. The units can produce 1500 gallons of potable water per hour.