The California National Guard rescued an 81-year-old that was being carried by flooding waters in California last Friday, according to a news release.
CalGuard’s Company C/2-135 MEDEVAC was assisting the Plumas County Sheriff’s Department with an aerial reconnaissance due to flooding in Greenville when the Sheriff’s department diverted them to assist 81-year-old Rodger McMurtry.
McMurtry was swept away from his car when a rush of flooding water came towards him. McMurtry can be seen in the video holding onto branches to keep himself from being carried away by the six-foot-high rush of water.
“It was vital the Plumas OES Director and Sheriff’s Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordinator were on board to relay the 9-1-1 dispatch call and assist our crew in direct navigation to the victim,” Chief Brandon Lynch, the pilot in command of the HH-60L Black Hawk, said in the news release.
A guardsmen on the Blackhawk was hoisted down near McMurtry so that he could be retrieved. The two were then lifted into the air and taken away in the helicopter.
“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 news release. “Our partnership with city and county agencies will always ensure our communities are safe.”
The California National Guard put out an alert to all 23,000 of its soldiers and airmen telling them that they are on standby in case of an emergency from the Oroville Dam in California.
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