Watch a California Guard Black Hawk crew rescue a man from flood waters
February 13, 2017
The Guard’s Company C/2-135 MEDEVAC was performing aerial reconnaissance during flooding in Greenville, California, when the Plumas County Sheriff’s Department diverted them to the rescue.
“It was vital the Plumas [Office of Emergency Services] Director and Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Coordinator were onboard to relay the 911 dispatch call and assist our crew in direct navigation to the victim,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Lynch, the pilot in command of the HH-60L Black Hawk, said in the release.
“I applaud the crew’s quick and decisive actions, which resulted in the saving of a life,” Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, the Adjutant General for the California National Guard, said in the release. “Our partnership with city and county agencies will always ensure our communities are safe.”
All 23,000 of the California National Guard’s soldiers are also on standby in case the Oroville Dam at Lake Oroville, about two hours southwest of where the rescue occurred, fails.
“We are leaning forward and ready to assist with this if needed,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said on Monday.
The Defense Department also has liaison officers at state emergency centers to help facilitate and coordinate requests for additional help, he said.
More than 100,000 residents who live downstream of Lake Oroville have been told to evacuate after water levels rose so high that it flowed into the emergency spillway, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Officials fear the damaged spillway will collapse, causing floods from the country’s highest dam.
ArmyTimes
Well done!