BEAUMONT, Tx. — Leaders in Texas are taking a helicopter tour looking at the damage left by Harvey.
Health officials are warning about dangers in the waters saying E. coli levels are 125 times higher than what is considered safe.
Texas is getting help from Georgia. Channel 2’s Aaron Diamant is embedded with a group from the Georgia National Guard in Beaumont, Texas, near Louisiana.
“We train for this all the time, and it’s kind of like professional athletes, you train day in and day out and you’re waiting for that call and when the call comes we’re going to be ready to go,” said Capt. Jeff Gephardt, who is serving as the navigator of the group.
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The C-130 will be running a series of relief missions Thursday night. Early Thursday afternoon, Diamant was with the team as they loaded several pallets of bottled water.
It was announced Thursday that Beaumont’s municipal sewer system has been compromised by the floodwaters meaning there is no clean tap water for a city of 100,000 plus people.
This will barely make a dent in that but it is the first of many missions the Georgia National Guard will be conducting.
Channel 2 has learned once the water is off, they will be loading up evacuees.
“They’re our brothers and sisters and fellow Americans. They called and we answered, and we know they would do the same thing for us, so we’re happy to be here,” said Capt. Benjamin Moody with the Georgia National Guard 165TH Air Wing.
Dozens of evacuees boarded the guard's C-130 in Texas Thursday night.
"It's a lot to deal with because I've never been in a situation like this, " said evacuee Cheyenne Walker.
Embedded with the crew, Diamant says he saw relief and compassion as 63 people and 7 dogs were rescued in the first round.
"I'm just so glad we were able to help, that we have the resources and the man power to do that, to be able to come out here and get them to safer places," said Sarah Perry with the Georgia National Guard.
The flight was the first of three Thursday night. There will likely be many more to come on Friday.
Cox Media Group
