Coast Guard Rescue Count in N.D. up to 72

From the Coast Guard Public Affairs website:

FARGO, N.D. -- On the second day of rescue operations here, Thursday, March 26, 2009, Coast Guard rescue airboat and helicopter crews rescued 48 people from rising flood waters, for a two-day total of 72 people rescued.

An HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., rescued 15 people, including a family of three and their cat and dog, a 78-year-old man and three teenagers. The helicopter crews' total rescue count for two days is 21.

Video of Thursday, March 26, 2009 rescues can be found at the following links:
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=506292
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=506289
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=506286

Coast Guard air boats were once again tasked with assisting stranded residents. Total resuces for Thursday, March 26, 2009, for the three air boat teams staged in Fargo rescued 33 people. Their two-day total is 51 rescues.

Coast Guard Sector Sault Saint Marie, Mich., rescued 8
Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, rescued 10
Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores, Mich., rescued 15
In addition to the four air boat crews from Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., St. Claire Shores, Mich., Marblehead, Ohio, and Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; two helicopters, one from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., and Air Station New Orleans; and two Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) from St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis; two additional DART teams have been activated, one from Cincinnati, and one Huntington, W.V., and will be reporting to the region this weekend. Two additional rescue helicopters and three more airboat teams are also on the way.

For the latests Coast Guard news and imagery for the Red River floods, visit:
http://www.uscgstormwatch.com/go/site/1769/

Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Wheeler, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer, assists a man in a hoist basket before it is lifted to the Coast Guard HH-6575 “Dolphin” helicopter March 26, 2009. The man had become stranded by the Red RIver flood waters at a residence here. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Blackwell)

Machinery Technician 3rd Class Dan Fraley of Coast Guard Station Sault Ste. Marie offloads the faithful friend of an Oxbow, N.D. woman, as both the dog and its owner required rescue from their flooded home along the Red River, Thursday, March 26, 2009. (U.S. Coast Guard/Photo by Petty Officer Bill Colclough)