Following the devastation by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, U.S. Army Reserve aviators delivered 15,000 pounds of bottled water to Conroe to relieve water shortages, a Department of Defense release said.
The water came from an anonymous donor, and two local aviators had the dilemma of transporting the water to areas north of Beaumont while their personal aircraft was only able to carry a few hundred pounds at a time and the airspace was becoming filled with military helicopters searching for survivors, the release said. Eventually, the two aviators received help from the Army Reserve's 1st Battalion (Assault Helicopter Battalion), 158th Aviation Regiment.
"We kept having semiloads show up, and we just weren't cutting a dent into it. … The Army Reserve comes in and tackles the issue with these big CH-47 Chinooks, and God bless them that they came in and helped us out," Chad Hendrich, one of the local aviators, said in the release.
The Army Reserve had been responsible for searching for and rescuing survivors and for aviation, engineering, transportation, and medical and communications support, according to the Department of Defense. As survivors continue to need assistance in the wake of the hurricane damage, the Army Reserve continues to respond to those in need.
"Here's the bottom line for the Army Reserve and for this unit in particular, the 1st of the 158th Assault Helicopter Battalion: this community has supported us through the good times, through the bad times for a lot of years," Army Capt. Chris Fishel said in the release. "Having the opportunity to support the community that has supported us for all those years, is an honor, it's a privilege, and it's a responsibility that we take very seriously."
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