Human Chain Saves Children in Midwest Flood

Floodwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers isolated the village of West Alton Wednesday night and National Guardsmen formed a human chain to rescue children from the rising water.

Coast Guard boats and a helicopter ferried out residents whose courage faded when night fell, and the water rose after the last levee protecting West Alton, near where the rivers meet, gave way and the town was cut off.

“The last remaining portion of significant dry ground in the West Alton area is going under water now,” Capt. Ken MacNevin of the Missouri National Guard said late Wednesday night.

‘Formed Human Chain’

“Some of our National Guard engineers assisted in removing people from the town, including young children,” MacNevin said. “They formed a human chain and literally passed children from one soldier to another to get them into a vehicle and out of the flooded area.”

Coast Guard Lt. Chris Smith said, “The floodwaters rose really fast and left a lot of people in the town. From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., 17 people were evacuated by boat and 7 by helicopter from West Alton. The floodwaters continue to rise and we anticipate more calls for assistance.”

Smith said many residents spurned offers of evacuation until night fell.

Coast Guardsmen in boats also rescued 50 horses trapped in a barn about 12 miles west of St. Louis. Smith said the horses’ handlers could not lead them through the high water, but Coast Guardsmen in boats held the horses’ reins and they walked and swam to high ground.