Around 9am Thursday a family in Clover Bend got word to Sheriff Dotson that were trapped by the flood waters in the Clover Bend area. Sheriff Dotson knew the only way to get the family out was by boat, so he gave a call to Joe Chappell of Imboden to ask for help.
Within minutes, Chappel was ready to go. This was not the first time during these floods that Chappell had gone out to help others. The first problem was to figure out how to get close to the stranded family, several roads in the Portia area are closed due to the water.
ImbodenLive was lucky enough to tag along with Joe. Joe launched his boat right from the road at the intersection of Lawrence 511 & 528. Once in the water Joe traveled over a mile to reach the residents.
Dickie, Brian and Dakota Richardson were standing on an island with their bags packed, ready to go. By 10:20 am the family was rescued and met other family on Lawrence 511. The Richardson’s stated they other family in the area that they could stay with until the water went down.
As soon as the family reached dry ground, the Richardson’s tried to pay Chappell for his trouble, Joe replied “No way! I do this kind of stuff because I care.”
