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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 24, 2010
Contact: Terry Woster, Public Information Officer, 605-773-3178
National Guard, Prison Inmates Sandbagging in Woonsocket
PIERRE, S.D. – Two crews of minimum-security inmates and a contingent of National Guard members are in Woonsocket today helping with a sandbagging operation to protect structures from flood water caused by recent heavy rains.
Gov. Mike Rounds traveled to Woonsocket on Wednesday evening to assess the flood threat and the need for state resources.
Fifty inmates were sent to the Sanborn County community late Wednesday and worked through the night filling sandbags. Another 50 inmates arrived early Thursday to take over the sandbagging operation. At least 50 National Guard members reached the town Thursday to help place the sandbags around threatened structures on the north side of Woonsocket.
Unusually heavy rainfall has created flooding conditions in low-lying areas near the town. Late Wednesday afternoon, local officials requested state assistance in protecting the community.
The crews of inmates are from minimum-security units in Yankton and Sioux Falls. Guard members are from the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 153rd Engineering Battalion of Huron.
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