BEAUMONT, Tx - Ever since taking off last week, the Navy's Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 has pulled hundreds of people from floodwaters in the southeast Texas.
The squadron, known as the 'Dirty Dogs', is based at Naval Station Norfolk.
Video released Wednesday is giving a glimpse into the work the squadron is doing, showing a woman being hauled up from a flooded home in a basket. More follow and the group of flood victims is safely taken to dry land.
LCDR Pat Dunn is a helicopter pilot for HSC-7. He says maneuvering a team of four people to pick up victims has proven to be difficult.
"Visibility is down to a half-mile, a quarter-mile in front of us," said LCDR Dunn. "Driving rain the entire time. It's tricky to get around. It's tricky to not hit anywhere else or any other thing."
And when the squadron finally reaches the flood victims, they never know what they're going to get.
"We are rescuing people that are having some of the worst days of their lives so you see the gamut of everything. We see people who need pretty serious medical intervention, we see people who come up with big smiles from ear-to-ear," said LCDR Dunn.
HSC-7 says it plans to stay in Texas as long as it's needed.
