Michigan U.S. National Guard deploy to help Houston

(WJBK) - The U.S. Coast Guard has been making dramatic rescues in Houston using boats and helicopters to pull people from rushing floodwaters.

Now even more members of the coast guard are being deployed from metro Detroit. There is a whirlwind of activity at Selfridge Air National Guard base Tuesday as the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes preparing to deploy to Texas.

Sixty coast guard men and women from the Great Lakes Region are already on the ground there with another 25 on their way Tuesday.

For Petty Officer Third Class Isaac Padilla the trip is personal.

"I'm from El Paso Texas," he said. "I've got a lot of family and friends in Houston."

Padilla said he is trying to prepare himself for what he's about the see, the people he's hoping to save.

"It kind of hits home," he said. "So it's good to go back and give back to my state and help out."

"You think of the worst, you plan for the worst and just hope everything goes smooth from there," he said. "I know it's going to be rough, there's going to be a lot of things we see we probably didn't expect to see."

On Saturday Coast Guard Great Lakes sent down three airboats normally used for ice rescues in Michigan, able to navigate the shallow waters they may find in Texas.

"They can get into an area and bring people out," said Capt. Jeff Novak, U.S. Coast Guard. "And that's what they train for."

"They rescued over 115 people and one dog," said Lt. Jodie Knox, U.S. Coast Guard.

And that was just one crew in one boat on Monday, now the second wave is moving in to relieve the first. The Air National Guard is packing up their supplies - from boot driers to flat bottom inflatable boats outfitted to run on propane.

"This is some logistical magic that has been worked here," said Knox. "Over the past 24 hours, the Coast Guard said the Detroit crews worked hard to stock this hangar with boats to propane to people. It's been a big effort."

A big effort with a big payoff for the Great Lakes Coast Guard men and women - who wouldn't want to be anywhere other than helping in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

"I was stationed in Milwaukee first, so I did a lot of ice rescue there," said Chad Weisbarth, U.S. Coast Guard. "I got quite a bit of experience for stuff like this that we're going to be doing."

"This is why we joined this service is to do this job right here," said Vanessa Scasny, U.S. Coast Guard. "To save people and get in there and get dirty and do what you've got to do to make it matter."

The Red Cross asking for donations. Call Red Cross or go to Redcross.org text harvey or red cross to 90999 to make a $10 donation through your cell phone carrier.

A Detroit woman has a GoFundMe for Houston, go to www.GoFundMe.com/Detroit2Houston