Looking Back on 2008 Flood

This month is the 10th anniversary of the historic flooding of 2008 and many community members can share some incredible
stories of the rain-filled evenings. County Communications and Emergency Management Director Bobbi Hicken
says she was working in dispatch at the time, and was called in to deal with
the massive influx of calls for help. Hicken tells us the roads were nearly
impossible to navigate, even with the help of a city worker and his big truck. She tells us “we had to go through a lot of
different streets. I ended up having him drop me off a block away. I had to
roll up my pants and wade in to work. It was crazy – so I went in about 8:00 at
night and didn’t get home until 7:00 in the morning, which is not an atypical
shift, but I don’t remember ever being that exhausted”  Hicken says dispatch had
to begin turning away callers that were not in an immediate life or death
situation. They eventually had to set up an extra emergency call center to
speak with anyone who needed help dealing with the flooding.