Texas ANG Delivers Much-Needed Water, Aid After Winter Storm | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.10.24

Airborne-NextGen-06.11.24

Airborne-Unlimited-06.12.24 Airborne-FltTraining-06.13.24

Airborne-Unlimited-06.14.24

Wed, Mar 03, 2021

Texas ANG Delivers Much-Needed Water, Aid After Winter Storm

The 136th Airlift Wing’s C-130H Hercules Flew More Than 26 Missions

A winter storm without a name is just chilly weather. But when the National Weather Service names it, it becomes the winter storm of a lifetime … or at least in the eyes of Texas.

From Feb. 14-20, Winter Storm Uri, the worst polar vortex to hit Texas since 1989, spread cataclysmic damage and sent temperatures plummeting into the teens and single digits for more than four million Texans. Nicknamed “Snow-mageddon” by many, Uri’s cold wave resulted in widespread power outages. As homes lost power and temperatures dropped, water pipes froze, and in many cases, burst, leaving Texans without usable water or the energy source to boil it to render it potable.

In coordination with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, or TDEM, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA delivered approximately 1,300 tons of bottled water to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth for central and south Texas communities without potable drinking water and likely to remain so for days or weeks to come.

Enter the Texas Air National Guard. Even before the snow and ice began to thaw, these Airmen soared into action to serve their fellow Texans.

With props spinning in record time, the 136th Airlift Wing’s C-130H Hercules flew more than 26 missions to places as far west as Abilene and Del Rio to far south including McAllen and Corpus Christi where additional Texas Guardsmen were waiting to distribute the water to local residents in need. Other aircraft, such as C-130Js, C-17 Globemaster IIIs and various rotary craft, augmented the deliveries.

Capt. Dave Ruthenbeck, 181st Airlift Squadron C-130H pilot, flew the mission. He said he wanted to pay it forward after having been without power or water for 35 hours himself.

“Now that I’ve got my power back, I want to help others not as fortunate,” Ruthenbeck said. “We’ve got about 35,000 pounds of water loaded here and are headed to Austin. We’ve been flying water since Thursday (Feb. 18) and will continue until it’s all delivered.”

Working around the clock, Texas Army and Air National Guardsmen orchestrated the delivery of more than 40,000 cases of water themselves, while working in tandem with TDEM and other agencies, first responders, county officials, and volunteers to deliver millions of bottles of water overall, plus food and other necessities to Texans in need.

Tech. Sgt. Joshua Smith, 181st AS loadmaster, said he wanted to find a way to help his neighbors and delivering the water was a good start.

“I love helping people,” Smith said. “People need water around the state right now and we’re doing the job and making it happen. This is the greatest job that you can have!”

More than 300 local Guardsmen were activated in the Houston and San Antonio areas to help staff-warming stations and support neighbors without power and water. Texas government officials and TDEM stated they will continue working to ensure the federal government provides appropriate assistance to individual Texans as well as to the state and local governments.

FMI: www.af.mil

Advertisement

More News

ANNouncement: Now Accepting Applications For Oshkosh 2024 Stringers!!!

An Amazing Experience Awaits The Chosen Few... Oshkosh, to us, seems the perfect place to get started on watching aviation recover the past couple of years... and so ANN is putting>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.13.24)

“NBAA has a tremendous responsibility to the business aviation industry, and we are constantly collaborating with them. Our flight departments, professionals and aircraft own>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (06.13.24): Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.13.24)

Aero Linx: Vertical Aviation Safety Team (VAST) We are a public–private initiative to enhance worldwide flight operations safety in all segments of the vertical flight indust>[...]

ANN FAQ: How Do I Become A News Spy?

We're Everywhere... Thanks To You! Even with the vast resources and incredibly far-reaching scope of the Aero-News Network, every now and then a story that should be reported on sl>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC