1140th Guard unit to return from St. Louis storm cleanup

After more than a week of work in the St. Louis area, the 1140th Engineer Battalion of the Missouri National Guard will return home to Cape Girardeau this morning.

About 220 soldiers from the battalion, based in Cape Girardeau, were called on July 20 to assist with cleanup and recovery efforts in the St. Louis area. Large storms swept through that city on July 19, leaving an estimated 700,000 residents without power.

They'll be relieved by the 203rd Engineer Battalion, based in Joplin.

During its stay in St. Louis, the local Guard battalion has assisted with cleaning up debris left by the storms and knocking on doors to check on residents.

The local Guard soldiers were in the middle of their annual two-week training exercises when they were called up by Gov. Matt Blunt.

Spc. Mitchell Kester, battalion spokesman, said the call-up came at a good time for the Guard soldiers.

"There's no substitute for real-world training," said Kester.

Today's homecoming won't be as emotional as those that occurred after the battalion returned from Iraq or from assisting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina last year. The 200-plus soldiers were already away from their families and jobs for two weeks of training.

Humanitarian mission

But for Spc. Erin Morrison of Cape Girardeau, this homecoming will be special. Her daughter turned 3 years old on Monday.

"When I talked to her on the phone, she asked me if my work was done yet," Morrison said.

While in the St. Louis area, Morrison spent most of her time on the ground assisting in the cleanup and knocking on doors, she said. Residents were happy to see Guard members, she said.

Morrison said storm damage wasn't evenly dispersed, with some parts looking like disaster areas and others nearly untouched.

Capt. Kevin Compass of Perryville spent most of his time in the Guard's command center, but said humanitarian missions like this one are always important.

"Any time that you can get out in the public and they see that we're here to help, that puts a positive light on the National Guard," said Compass.

As of Thursday morning the 1140th had hauled 868 loads of debris and cleared 916 city blocks since beginning their work.

The six companies in the 1140th have headquarters in different areas of the state. Friday afternoon the 880th out of Perryville departed from St. Louis for home around 1:30 p.m., Kester said. Other companies were scheduled to return home this morning.

Rewarding work

But three Salvation Army volunteers from Cape Girardeau could still be in the St. Louis area for several days. Charlie Pruitt and Melvin and Tom Allen were in the St. Louis area helping to feed the thousands of residents who were still without power.

Friday morning they helped make thousands of sandwiches for St. Louis residents and went to Collinsville, Ill., that afternoon with hot meals, said Pruitt.

Pruitt said helping out was "very rewarding work."

By Friday afternoon Ameren Corp. reported that most of the power to St. Louis had been restored.

On Thursday the Missouri Public Service Commission ordered an investigation into the utility company's handling of the outages.

But St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay praised the utility for its work.

Kester said from his vantage point on the ground Ameren was working hard at getting power restored all week long.

"Those power crews worked day and night, and they were working very hard to get that power restored," said Kester.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

msanders@semissourian.com

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