As flooding continues to devastate southeastern Illinois, the City of Champaign is pitching in resources and labor to alleviate the burden of managing flood waters. Three city employees left early Wednesday morning to deliver and run the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Division 28 Hazardous Material Decontamination truck in Quincy, Ill. The truck will provide hot showers for National Guard units and volunteers in the Quincy area working to control flood waters. With potential sediments and material in the flood waters, the deployment of the truck is critical.

“We don’t know what could be in the muddy water,” said John Barker, acting department chief of operations for Champaign. “We don’t want the workers to bring back any of it to their living quarters.”

Mutual Aid Box Alarm System is a state wide resource made up of more than 550 fire departments organized within 46 divisions. The system offers specialized operations teams for hazardous materials, underwater rescue and recovery and above and below grade, trench and building collapse rescues. Last Friday, the system sent a communications trailer to repair phone lines, fix radio frequencies and re-establish communications infrastructure in state disaster areas. According to Barker, the Champaign unit may be out there for another two weeks.

“Right now our primary job is providing showers, but that could change in the next week based on need,” Barker said.

Although the state does not know how much longer southeastern counties will remain disaster areas, State Emergency Operations Center spokesperson Maggie Carson said the operation center is fully activated and running around the clock until all needs are met.

“We’ve been blessed with nice weather for the past few days, so there has been no additional rain to make the flood waters worse,” Carson said. “We have dedicated professionals working long hours to minimize the adverse affects of the flooding.”

Adams County in particular faced another major setback Wednesday as levees breached at Lima Lake and Indian Graves. In anticipation of more flooding, Gov. Rod Blagojevich made a pre-emptive declaration of disaster in Madison county and declared Knox County a state disaster area due to disruption in the water supply on Wednesday.

“The state declarations open doors to additional resources for these counties,” Carson said.

The governor has activated 1,100 Illinois National Guard troops to assist with sandbagging and other flood preparation efforts. The governor had declared 19 counties disaster areas as of Wednesday, including Adams, Calhoun, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Hancock, Henderson, Jasper, Jersey, Lake, Lawrence, Mercer, Pike, Rock Island, Winnebago, and now Knox and Madison counties. Blagojevich has also asked U.S. Congressional leaders to include additional funding in the federal 2008 supplemental appropriations bill for flood response and recovery costs.

Carson urges residents within these areas to plan ahead, if possible. Safety recommendations as well as information about currently open relief shelters are made available on ready.illinois.gov. Volunteer needs are also posted on the site.

“We have a lot of volunteers out there who are not necessarily interested in protecting their own property,” Carson said. “They are the ones who should be applauded.”

FEMA representatives are currently assessing the area in order to take action, Carson said. Over the next few days, action by federal and state government will be essential in providing for relief for According to a press release from Sen. Barack Obama’s office, President Bush is scheduled to visit the area to evaluate the damage and is being urged by both Sens. Obama and Durbin to “utilize every relevant federal agency . to coordinate and collaborate with state and local agencies in order to help the families and businesses that have lost so much.”