COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri task force has returned to Columbia after spending over a week aiding local agencies with flood response efforts in the southwest part of the state.
The State Emergency Management Agency deployed the 25-member Missouri Task Force 1 for a search and rescue operation to West Plains on April 28.
Randy Sanders, one of the task force leaders, says the crew went to about 10 communities. They performed water rescues, wide-area searches and humanitarian missions to check on residents in areas surrounded by floodwaters and to deliver clean water to them. Sanders says they also used air support from the Missouri National Guard.
Heavy rain caused flooding in the state last month. The storms caused six deaths in Missouri.