What did flood responders run out of first?

After the 2008 flooding in Winneshiek County, emergency government planners sat down at a table and reviewed the response to the flooding.  There was one item everyone agreed the county needed more of for the next time floodwaters hit.

Winneshiek County purchased many more of the items, so that when the floodwaters hit in August of this year--they ran out of supplies again.

County Engineer Lee Bjerke says the greater supply of barricades had been expected to meet the demands of closing roads because of floods.  But this year putting up a couple of barricades wasn't enough to keep motorists from ignoring the signs and driving through.

Bjerke says in the planning of how to handle the response to the next flood, it will be important to buy more barricades--or to find some other way to seal off an entire road to traffic.