Lt. Commander Kevin Carmichael is one of over a hundred members of the U.S. Coast Guard delivering relief to those in need on Rota and Guam. 

"This is the third Coast Guard C-130 aircraft operating with multiple crews. A lot of what we are moving is water, food, and any kind of equipment supplies like chainsaws and other utilities just to recover. And also to help open the ports we’ve brought in divers and navigation equipment…just to make sure that the shoreside can get supplies from ships not just aircraft, " Carmichael said.

They’re answering the calls for help, with some of their crew traveling from as far as Virginia and Alabama working with FEMA and local governments. 

"Saving lives and helping people is our mission set and so the crew is energized being able to help everybody and every day we get up and whatever our tasking is we just try to do it as quickly to just help the people here and get the islands back on their feet," he said. 

The crew works up to 12 hours a day on the ground to fly 6 flights a day between the islands.

He added, "We are trying to support directly what they need and working pretty well as a team to try to make sure the most urgent needs are met as quickly as possible."

The private sector is also taking flight. Micronesian Air Cargo Services opened their new hangar to be able to provide services to Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam. Their on-demand flights help businesses and residents get supplies to their communities.    

 

 John Stewart, the president of Micronesian Air Cargo Services, told KUAM, "But the main product we have been moving to Guam over this last week or so has been water and generators. A lot of generators going down there. So…we keep them going when we need to."

And they’ve kept operations going even after losing one of their own planes on Guam to Typhoon Mawar, which pulled it out of shelter and tossed it into the jungle. 

"We are doing a good job with what we’ve got left and that is three airplanes that we got dedicated to freight moving between the islands…the mail is very important for part of our work in getting the mail to people…the mail system is imperative that we get that happening as soon as we can," he said.

Their planes can carry up to three thousand pounds on each flight. They know how critical the mission is after being one of the first to provide services after Typhoon Yutu hit Saipan and Tinian in 2018. 

MACS General Manager Laura Santos said, "We are basically moving the same stuff that we moved in after Yutu for Saipan is what we are moving to Guam."