Georgia Howe (3:10)

So was Operation Hilo the only helicopter operation going on at that time, or was the government also doing a parallel operation?

Eric Robertson (3:17)

So we did run into some National Guard assets, not very many. We were by far the largest organization providing aid. We had over 100 helicopters. When it was all said and done, the National Guard actually came to us and started flying missions for us. Both of my co founder and I were both prior military, so we ran this like a military operation. So when it was all said and done, like I said, the National Guard came in, FEMA came in, the state came in, and the FAA came in, and every single one of them gave us their blessing, but also started running missions for us, which was really cool to see. When it was all said and done.

Georgia Howe (3:54)

Now who was involved? Where did those hundred helicopters come from and who were the people participating?

Eric Robertson (4:00)

Sir? Yeah, it was private aviators from all around the country. So we had people that showed up from Oregon, from Wyoming, from Montana, from Maryland, you name it. Aviators with helicopters answered the call and wanted to come be a part of the mission. So they were literally from all over the country, privately owned and funded helicopters.

Georgia Howe (4:22)

Wow. So were most of those pilots former military or was it a mix of civilians too?

Eric Robertson (4:27)

It was an eclectic mix. You have, you know, people that use their helicopters on their ranch to herd cattle. You had prior military guys, you had guys that just had their helicopter for fun when we were running these missions, and it's a testament to the aviators, we didn't have a single safety incident at all with over 4,000 missions that we ran. So they were great aviators that answered the call.

Georgia Howe (4:50)

That's incredible. Now tell us about some of the really notable rescues. I'm very ignorant about helicopters, so it's hard for me to even imagine, do you land on someone's property to bring them things or how does it work?

Eric Robertson (5:03)

So initially we had to forge new landing zones. So we would take prior military, also some military special forces guys, 82nd guys that were simply there on leave volunteering. We would drop them in and they would forge landing zones for us and they would go out and kind of scout the area. So once we had that done, we understood where the aid needed to go. So yes, sometimes it would be we would land directly on someone's property. If we would get a call into the call center, for example, of somebody looking for Aunt Nancy and hadn't talked to Aunt Nancy in seven Days they would give us her address, we would turn it into coordinates that we could hand our pilots. We would scout the landing zone, make sure it was accessible, drop in, make sure Aunt Nancy was okay and get her some food and relief. And if she wanted to come out, we'd take her out.

Georgia Howe (5:52)

Wow.

Eric Robertson (5:53)

There was one that really stood out to me and it really speaks to the devastation in the area. This was a thousand year storm and there was two actually personal friends that flew into an area in Burnsville, landed on the road and there was an elderly couple sitting in front of a store. That store you could see on the second level where the watermark was. So it was again, that water was up past the second level of that store. That store had been in the family for over 100 years. They were sitting out in front of the store and my buddy Brad Womble, he approached them and said, hey guys, what do you need? Can we get you out of here? Can we evacuate you? They said that they could not, they weren't leaving, that their grandson was still stuck in the rafters. He had obviously passed, he had drowned in the flood and they were standing guard. They said that we're not leaving until he leaves. So that's not exactly a rescue mission. But that kind of speaks to what we were dealing with in the first week or two after the storm.

Georgia Howe (7:00)

Wow. It seems like it would be very challenging to actually search for people from the air. How would you find and identify the people who needed help?

Eric Robertson (7:08)

There is a bunch of different ways that we would go about doing search and rescue. Obviously, oftentimes be people standing outside, they would be waving. Other times it would be that someone hasn't spoken to or seen or heard their loved one in a week or so. So we would go in and check on them and at that point, you know, they would most likely want to come with us just because we could get them to safety, we could get them out of the cold, we could get them food, shelter, water and all that. We evacuated a nursing home and it had 159 elderly people in it. So that's, you know, we get the call that they have no power, they have no water, they've been stuck in there for six days. So we actually grabbed a National Guard asset of Chinook, took that in and grabbed 159 people over a couple trips. So it varies in how we were able to get the people out, but at the end of the day we ended up rescuing or exfiling 439 people throughout the course of the mission.

Georgia Howe (8:04)

Wow. Have you stayed in touch with some of these pilots about perhaps being ready for a future storm, or was this just a one off project?

Eric Robertson (8:12)

So we learned throughout the evolution of the mission there in Hickory while we were flying that we, I mean, we just had such amazing volunteers. Ashley Dehon, who ran a lot of our vetting and processing, Tommy Daniel, who did a lot of technology. And when we had all these people that came together, we learned that we were really good at it. Like I said, the FAA came in and each time I think they were going to try to shut us down, but they saw how safe we were and that we had tabs on all of our assets, both on the ground and in the air in real time. So moving forward, yes, we do have a database, we do have a plan to have vetted pilots to where we can respond going forward to any natural disaster. We also learned that, you know, being a private organization, we can be nimble. We can respond to needs very quickly. Like in the days after the storm, once the roads started opening up and the need for helicopters kind of went away, we pivoted and we then began to provide campers for people that had been displaced throughout the flood and that had lost everything. So that's a testament to us being able to be nimble and just respond to the needs of the people.

Georgia Howe (9:27)

Well, you're obviously making a huge difference. Here's just one of hundreds of families reacting to their new camper.

John Bickley (9:35)

Oh wow, look at that.

Eric Robertson (9:39)

Oh wow, look at that. That's Natasha. She's our little earth angel from Operation Hilo.

John Bickley (9:50)

Thank you.

Eric Robertson (9:50)

Operation Hilo. Woohoo.

Georgia Howe (9:54)

Tell me a little more about the campers. How many are deployed now and where did they come from and how long have they been in use?

Eric Robertson (10:01)

Sure. Like I said, I'd say probably two weeks. After the storm, the helicopter mission kind of went away. But we knew the devastation. We had been boots on the ground, we had seen it all. We knew what people were dealing with. We knew not only did people lose houses and cars, but they lost loved ones often. Sometimes the river claimed people's property where it was 100ft wide, it's now 4, 400ft wide. So we immediately pivoted. We knew the need, we knew that people were homeless. We knew people were sleeping in tents and in cars and one man was even sleeping in a cave. So at that point, we just put the word on that we're going to start buying and distributing campers to the people as temporary shelter. And so to date, we have delivered 162 campers to 162 families. We have 10 more on the books that'll be going out towards the end. They'll even be going out tomorrow or the first of next week. And then we have probably another 20 behind that. So that's kind of what we've been up to after the flood is providing temporary shelter for people that have lost everything.

Georgia Howe (11:10)

Wow. And are those people able to live in those campers all winter? If they have to, yeah.

Eric Robertson (11:15)

So our main goal was to get them in a bed somewhere warm where they can take a shower, use a bathroom, cook, and kind of get as back to normal as they possibly could in these circumstances. Each camper, we've learned, goes through about a bottle of propane every four to six days. So we have committed and we have set aside funds to where we are going to make sure that the people that are in the campers that we've distributed have the opportunity to stay warm. We made a deal locally with Blossomons, a propane distributor in area, to where they can go to Blossom and get propane for their camper at no cost to them. So that was kind of twofold. It keeps them warm. We're also putting funding back into the area. So that's kind of been our strategy. Anytime we can buy local or put money back into the area, we've done.

Georgia Howe (12:08)

So how about the rebuilding? Have they made even a dent or is it still just complete devastation?

Eric Robertson (12:14)

It is complete devastation still. I think they just yesterday got the building codes lifted to where people can start to possibly live in tiny houses or sheds. A lot of those were not passing code. So that's why we felt like the campers were the best option for temporary shelter. But now that the camper mission is kind of winding down, we're now pivoting again, seeing what's next. And our next evolution, I guess you'd say, is to now start supplying building materials to where we can be a part of the long term permanent build back effort.

Georgia Howe (12:53)

Now do you have a 501C3 that you're collecting donations to?

Eric Robertson (12:57)

We do. It's Operation Helo incorporated. We are a 501. Operationhelo.org is where people can go. But yep, we are officially a 501C3.

Georgia Howe (13:09)

All right, well, thank you so much for coming on and telling us about this amazing mission.

Eric Robertson (13:13)

Thank you guys.

Georgia Howe (13:14)

That was Eric Robertson, founder of Operation Helo and this has been as special edition of morning wire.

John Bickley (13:24)

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