OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter and crew assisted ranchers Tuesday after flood waters stranded about 80 head of their cattle.
The cattle, located on land near Bowlegs, Oklahoma, became stranded last Thursday after heavy rains flooded a river and forced them to higher ground. The cattle ate all of the available vegetation within a few days.
According to Dr. Rod Hall, state veterinarian for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, the cattle's situation was not yet dire, but without the bales of hay, the cattle could have begun to eat leaves from the local trees which can be poisonous to cattle.
"Without the National Guard's help, many of the cattle could have died," said Hall.
The CH-47, which is stationed at the Oklahoma Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility near Lexington, Oklahoma, dropped 12 round bales of hay and 12, 50-pound bags of feed to the cattle. Once the bales were offloaded, the helicopter returned to the aviation facility.
The request for assistance was initiated by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture through Oklahoma Emergency Management which then assigned the job to the Oklahoma National Guard's Joint Operations Center.