Camp Atterbury survives double whammy

The timing of the tornado was not just the difference between day and night - it was the difference between life and death. Camp Atterbury was struck by a tornado at 9:41 p.m. June 3. And by striking at night instead of morning, several lives were probably saved, according to Camp Atterbury State Resource Program Manager Bill Ochsner.

The tornado hit 15 trailers, destroying all of them, and totaled 13 buildings on the base. But since it was night, no one was in the trailers and few were in the buildings. And that made the difference between rescue and recovery.

Once on the grounds, "we walked in the dark, using only our flashlights, checking for damages and downed power lines and turning off gas to the buildings," he said. Randall said it took three guys nearly 2½ hours to access the damages and prevent additional problems from occurring. Engelking sent the three workers home around 5 a.m., as the regular shift workers were due in at 6 a.m. Those workers picked up where Randall and his group left off - cleaning up the debris caused by the tornado. In all, there were state employees, Title 10 soldiers and inmate labor all cleaning up from the aftermath of the tornado that touched down at Camp Atterbury.

Larry Decker, a maintenance plumber, was on vacation when the tornado hit, but he heard about it from his daughter. When he returned to work, he said that most everything was in its place, but "the trailers were gone, severely damaged vehicles were settled where buildings once were; it was orderly, but a whole new world," he said.

Staff Sgt. Joe Watkins, a state employee currently on military leave, is assigned to Camp Atterbury (His wife is in the Indiana National Guard and his son is currently deployed to Iraq). A heavy equipment operator, Watkins said the damages done by the tornado made his job a bit more difficult than normal. "We received our orders and began the monotony of picking up what was left of the trailers and buildings," he said. "Overall, things went pretty smoothly."

Ochsner said the trailers housed classrooms, health services, offices and a library. The tornado's path narrowly missed the recently re-sided chapel and its new stained glass windows. But the mediation area and gazebo were destroyed. Still, that was just the first of two disasters to strike Camp Atterbury within a week's time. The tornado hit Tuesday evening; the floods came rolling in Friday.

Engelking said the floods came in Friday evening and the local news media reported that Edinburgh was nearly 11 inches under water. Much of that water made its way onto Camp Atterbury.

As a result, some of the target ranges were left sitting in five feet of flood water. Two of the ranges, according to Rick Yarger, program coordinator of the ranges, were full of water.

On Saturday, following Friday's flooding, workers were on the ranges trying to assess damages and one worker said he needed help to get the lifters off the ranges. But before help could get to him, the water came rolling in and he was trapped for two hours before he could be rescued.

Once the waters receded, workers used fire hoses to powerwash the caked-on mud, river sludge and other debris from the targets. Then they drilled holes in each of the targets to drain the water. If they find it necessary to replace the two ranges, Yarger estimates it would be somewhere around $400,000.

"The flooding of our ranges is a tremendous problem," he said. "The Marines that are here training, this is their last chance to train before they are shipped out. We want to make sure they get all the necessary training and the flooding hinders our efforts." In spite of the flooded ranges, the Marines continued to train until they left Camp Atterbury for Iraq.

It's been said that rain falls on the just and the unjust and the recent tornadoes and rains have certainly proven the accuracy of that adage.

Bill Ragsdale a Field Examiner Supervisor with the State Board of Accounts, made it to work on Monday morning (June 2) at his office above the town hall in Bloomfield. However, the town's clerk treasurer suggested Ragsdale find another place to work because all the roads leading to and from Bloomfield were about to be closed. Moments later, the town hall was closed.

It seems water was coming from all directions. He made it home eventually, but not without detouring along the way. Water covered most of the highways, back roads and fields, making it difficult to determine where to drive.

A fellow Field Examiner Supervisor, Kerry Fleming, had a similar experience with his office. Housed in the basement of the Franklin city hall, Fleming's office was flooded when city sewers backed up into the toilets. He and others in the office had to wade around in 1½ ft. of raw sewage in an attempt to salvage necessary documents. The basement also housed city records for Franklin. The contents of the basement were removed and loaded into two big dumpsters. For now, he is working out of other satellite offices across the southern part of the state.

Dave Bursten, Public Information Officer for the Indiana State Police, took it on the chin at home. His home flooded on May 30, taking on 14½" of water. He spent most of the first week of June at home, trying to clean up his property from the damaging waters. A tornado hit within one mile of Jason Lee's house on Tuesday, June 3. Lee is a conservation officer for DNR, assigned to Brown County. While he did not get called out that night, he responded anyway. The tornado hit around 9:40 p.m. and he worked until around 4 a.m., routing traffic away from downed power lines, closed roads, etc.

At one point, an ambulance needed to get down Beech Tree Road, but fallen trees prevented its access. So Lee, a couple of volunteer firefighters and some private citizens fired up their chainsaws and cut a path for the ambulance. It took them about three hours before the road was cleared for the vehicle. "What surprised me was how many people, both emergency responders and private citizens, showed up with chain saws and other equipment to help," said Lee. "No one asked them, they just showed up, ready to work." The first two tractors on the scene were from private citizens. They were used to remove debris off the roadway.

Once the tornado passed, the floods followed. Because of his familiarity with Brown County, Lee knew where it was most likely to flood in the county. He headed with his DNR-issued boat to Trevlac, where Bean Blossom Creek comes into Lake Lemon (and where it often floods). There they rescued stranded families. The water had rushed in so fast, that people were caught off guard and as a result, were not able to evacuate on their own. Lee and his co-workers evacuated about 40 families from the area.

Later the next day, he was dispatched to Columbus. He launched his boat from the parking lot of Long John Silver's and set out to rescue people from the Eastbrook Plaza area. Some of the families were rescued from the roofs of their houses.

That mission complete, Lee was next called to Morgan County where he participated in a search and rescue mission and from there went to Jackson County. He spent 24 hours working the floods there and was able to help rescue two fellow officers from their overturned boats. That mission behind him, he got two hours of sleep and was sent back to Morgan County, where he pulled out a drowning victim.

Like many of his fellow officers, and several state employees across the state, sleep was a premium for Lee. But the goodness that he saw in those offering their help was enough to keep him motivated. "When everybody comes together for a common purpose, it is really refreshing," says Lee.

The State of Indiana is about to embark on its third year with the One Care Street program. Some state employees are well acquainted with the program, others are not that familiar with it.

One Care Street is open to all state employees who are covered by the state’s health insurance program. Spouses are included, too, as long as they also have state-sponsored health insurance. The program focuses on helping state employees get and stay healthy.

There is no fee for an employee to participate. In fact, it’s just the opposite – there is an incentive of $260 for an employee with single coverage; for an employee and covered spouse, the incentive is $390. Incentives are paid twice a year – in April and October.

Following is a list of some of the topics available to participants when taking advantage of One Care Street health coaching. If you have a particular need and it is not listed here, feel free to contact One Care Street and talk with a health coach.

Managing physical activity and diet for diabetes

• Creating a walking program during break times at work
• Preparing for doctor’s consultations
• Helping with accountability for health and fitness goals
• Finding different ways of dealing with workplace stress
• Being creative in discovering ways of being physically active
• Developing a plan to get to a healthier weight
• Addressing depression through increased physical activity
• Developing a plan to manage retirement concerns
• Navigating the health care system to find affordable medications
• Finding motivation to finally quit smoking
• Providing reliable health information in clear, straightforward format
• Developing plans to eat nutritiously
• Overcoming social avoidance
• Developing an assertive approach with co-workers
• Preventing stress from challenging family or work relationships