Air Station Sacramento transports equipment to help ebb floods in North Dakota

From the U.S. Coast Guard:

ALAMEDA, Calif. - Coast Guard crews from Air Station Sacramento transported five dewatering pumps, pipes, and connectors from Casper, Wyo. to Fargo, N.D., March 27-29, 2009.

The two crews departed the air station aboard a Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane Friday morning. Once in Casper, the crews loaded the flood-control equipment onto the aircraft and transported it to Fargo. The aircraft made three round trips from Casper to Fargo to load and unload the equipment, accumulating more than 25 hours of flight time, and traveling more than 3,600 miles over the course of the weekend.

Each pump is capable of pumping 7,000 gallons of water per minute. Two of the pumps weigh more than 12,000 pounds each, while three weigh more than 4 tons each. The pumps are part of contingency plan in case the levees in Fargo are breached.

FARGO, N.D. - Coast Guard crews from Air Station Sacramento help unload flood-control equipment from a Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane, here, Sunday, March 29, 2009. The equipment was picked up in Casper, Wyo. and delivered here, as part of contingency plan in case the levees are breached. U.S. Coast Guard photo.