More than 1,350 National Guardsmen from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania assisted in more than 1,000 water rescues and tens of thousands of evacuations after widespread flooding from torrential rains swept across the Northeast in late June.

Hardest hit was Pennsylvania, where Gov. Edward G. Rendell mobilized more than 1,000 Guard soldiers and airmen June 27 after declaring a disaster emergency in 46 of the state's 67 counties.

Pennsylvania Guard helicopter crews plucked evacuees off treetops and rooftops and from islands created by the fast-encroaching waters.

In addition to the rescues, Guardsmen assisted in evacuations, transported meals, delivered water and assisted Pennsylvania State Police at access control points, officials reported.

Much of the Guard's effort focused on Wilkes-Barre, a city in northeastern Pennsylvania straddling the flood-prone Susquehanna River. Authorities there ordered the evacuation of 200,000 people during the emergency.

But Pennsylvania Guard efforts weren't limited to the commonwealth.

In their largest single rescue operation, air crews picked up more than 750 people trapped by floodwaters on a high school field in just over the state border in Conklin, N.Y., June 28.

Maj. Gen. Jessica Wright, Pennsylvania adjutant general, said her troops took the mission because they could get stranded people faster than New York authorities.

Five CH-47 Chinook helicopters transported the evacuees from the high school to Conklin Fire Station No. 2. From there, they were bused to emergency shelters.

Meanwhile, soldiers from the New York National Guard's 204th Engineer Battalion evacuated Walton, N.Y., residents who had been trapped by historic flood levels.

"Our guys were at their peak for this mission," said Maj. Carlton Cleveland, battalion commander. "Two weeks of annual training in early June gave our equipment operators and planners plenty of preparation so when the call came in, we hit the ground running."

With water heights not seen in more than 100 years, Walton's Main St. turned into a canal of thick mud and water, rising in some places to five feet. Rushing waters washed out roads and parking lots, moving cars and their garages downstream.

"Everything in my store was floating about the place," said Anna Nochta, a Walton business owner. "There isn't much that I'll be able to save, but I don't know what I would have done without the help of the engineers."

As the waters receded in Walton, the Guard shifted from emergency response to damage assessment.

Soldiers worked with local officials and road construction crews using Humvees and helicopters to move from site to site in an effort to determine how to best restore roads that have stranded some residents from the rest of the town.

In New Jersey, Guard units assisted in last-minute evacuations along the swollen Delaware River.

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