BERLIN, Vt. – A New Hampshire Army Guard Black Hawk crew from Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment, rescued three people whose home was surrounded by high water from the flooding on July 11.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu dispatched two medevac helicopter crews to aid Vermont's response efforts to severe flooding.
The rescue mission "went as good as any hoist will ever go," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Timothy Ashworth, one of two pilots and two crew members who performed the airlift. "The winds were perfect for it. The weather was perfect for it. The people worked well with us. They were thrilled and very cooperative."
Rosie Laquerre, her son, Ryan Laquerre, and a family friend, Justin Plummer, had to be hoisted separately, along with Rosie's cat, Cricket, 70 feet up to the helicopter.
Ashworth said that fast encroaching water from the Winooski River, downed power lines, and floating propane tanks from a nearby storage facility prevented the crew from landing on the property. "We could smell the propane from the air," and the roads on both sides of the residence were washed out.
"It was like we were on our own little island," Rosie told a local newspaper reporter.
-- complied by New Hampshire National Guard Public Affairs.