More than 34 conservation officers and park rangers with the Iowa DNR have responded to flooding in western and southwestern Iowa since March 14. These men and women have worked from dawn to dusk, manning two-person boats and conducting rescue missions that have saved 31 people, 17 dogs, nine cats and one iguana. “Our officers went door-to-door in boats to make entry into the flood-ravaged homes to rescue the families and pets and bring them to safety throughout the flooded towns,” says Jeff Swearngin, Chief of the DNR Law Enforcement Bureau. “There is no doubt the work they are doing and have done is the difference between life and death.” They responded to a report of two non-ambulatory people trapped in their Missouri Valley home on Thursday, March 14. They broke out a window of the home, battling the high winds and dangerous whitecaps to rescue both victims, who were going in and out of consciousness, suffering from hypothermia. The work continues for these DNR officers as they transport energy officials through the flooded areas, assist emergency management personnel with assessing damage to the levees and other parts of the infrastructure and working with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) in assessing the structural integrity of the bridges on I-680. They will be on hand into the future as well, as the completion of public safety critical missions transition into clean-up and rebuilding.
