Harvey National Guard Response: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

"Today was a day no one ever thought they'd see," Pfc. Adelisa Fuentes of the Texas Army National Guard's 386th Engineer Battalion said as she moved through Cypress Creek on the outskirts of Houston. "There was water rising up to your hips, and the further the road went, the deeper the flood was."

Fuentes and the rest of the battalion were working with the Cypress Creek Fire Department and the Texas Task Force 1 urban search-and-rescue squad as they moved more than 1,000 people to safety away from the destructive waters unleashed by Hurricane — and then Tropical Storm — Harvey over the past several days.

The waters, which ran higher than five feet on some streets, making Cypress Creek perhaps the hardest hit subdivision, were at historic levels and continued to rise Wednesday even though the rain had stopped. Finally.

Fuentes and her comrades, whose stories were provided by the Department of Defense, would use trucks to get as far as they could before switching to swift-water boats that wold allow them to move through as little as 30 inches of water. Though, in most cases, they had little to worry about in that regard.

They went from home to home, rescuing people who had no other way out.

At each stop, the routine was the same.

People would pass their pets and their valuables to the soldiers who would place them in a boat. Their treasured possessions secure, the owners would then follow. And off the boat would go, bringing them to safety.

The National Guard was not alone. They found themselves going street by street seeing local residents out on their own boats helping rescue neighbors.

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It's an image that stuck with Fuentes.

"Watching others bring victims to safety," she said, "showed how much heart people really have and that they don't just depend on us to do the work alone.

"All help is worth a hand in a time of need."

As they were going home to home, the guardsmen and other volunteers were surprised by a man wading into 3 feet of water with some cooked chicken to feed them. For many, who had worked through lunch and knew there was no end in sight, it was a touching gesture.

"This is what we train for," said Texas Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Patrick M. Hamilton, who not only leads the Guard but acts as commander for the relief efforts as the state struggles to recover from Hurricane Harvey.

"We're proud to stand beside our civilian partners, first responders and volunteers to serve the citizens of Texas."

Hamilton said that while the Guard hopes to never be deployed at home for an emergency, it trains all year with partners like Task Force 1 and local fire departments, in case there is.

This week has put all that training to the test.

"This is Texans helping Texans — neighbors helping neighbors," he said. "While we don't want to have to put our training to the test during a tragedy, our citizen-guardsmen remain prepared to help save lives and property, when called."

Fuentes and her fellow soldiers worked for hours bringing people to safety.

"Nothing is more important to our guardsmen than the chance to serve their local community." Hamilton said. "Helping our neighbors when they need us most is the heart of the Guard, and why we choose to become citizen-soldiers and -airmen."

Meanwhile, more help is on it way.

The National Guard said Wednesday that up to 30,000 Guard members stand ready to assist what will be a "long-term, sustained effort."

We are leaning as far forward as we possibly can to ensure that military assets are postured to support the needs of Texas and, potentially, Louisiana," said Air Force Maj. Gen. James C. Witham, the director of domestic operations at the National Guard headquarters in Virginia.

As of Tuesday, the Guard's 4,300 soldiers who have deployed already had taken part in more than 3,500 rescues in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized the rest of the state's 12,000 soldiers and airmen.

In addition to Texas units, Guard deployments from 10 states — including Alaska — have been sent to help with response to the devastation caused by Harvey.

"When the Guard responds to hurricane-type events, normally we talk about that first 72 to 96 hours for the lifesaving and life-sustainment that takes place," Witham said. "Then, we're into the recovery effort.

"Due to the nature of this storm as it spun across southeast Texas for days and dumped historic levels of rainfall, our response has been very different than what we've looked at before."

Texas Guardsmen from the 386th Engineer Battalion, first responders from Texas Task Force One and the Cypress Creek Fire Department move residents from severely flooded neighborhoods to safety days after Hurricane Harvey in Cypress Creek, Texas, Aug. 28, 2017. The team rescued more than 1,000 people and hundreds of dogs and cats, bringing them to dry ground. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Martha Nigrelle