From home fires to tornadoes, the American Red Cross responds to a disaster every eight minutes, on average. Sometimes, however, the disaster we respond to is a little different.

The two chapters that make up the American Red Cross Serving Kansas acquired and moved a pallet of bottled water 170 miles in a matter of hours to help a Mitchell County community in need.

On Monday, a waterline break caused a loss of pressure in the Cawker City water distribution system, compromising the town’s water supply. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a boil water advisory until further notice.

As Cawker City officials work to repair the water system and restore safe drinking water to the town. emergency managers have been working to keep the town’s roughly 500 residents supplied with bottled water.

Early Tuesday morning, the Mitchell County Emergency Manager asked the Red Cross for help sourcing bottled water for Cawker City residents. Red Cross volunteers were dispatched to carry out this request. The Red Cross Greater Kansas and South Central and Southeast Kansas chapters organized a joint effort to deliver water to Cawker City.

Two hours after the emergency manager’s request, volunteers Tim and Jana Stocker from the Red Cross South Central and Southeast Kansas Chapter departed from the warehouse in Wichita with 52 cases of bottled water donated by the Pepsi Company. The Stockers drove the water to Salina, where they met Greater Kansas Chapter volunteer Eric Kohn and Disaster Program Manager Kyle Lewis in the parking lot of a Menards home improvement store to hand it off.

They asked the store manager for help transferring the water between Red Cross vehicles. The manager graciously agreed to have a Menards forklift and operator move the water. Kohn and Lewis then drove the water to Cawker City, arriving at about 1:15 p.m.

Cases of water were distributed to residents at their homes, to businesses and to the local day care. The remaining cases of water were delivered to the town’s water distribution point. In total, Red Cross volunteers from two chapters and community partners organized, moved and distributed a pallet of water from Wichita to Cawker City in five hours.

“None of this would have been possible without the teamwork we had from start to finish. It’s two and a half hours from Wichita to Cawker City if you drive straight through. Add in acquiring, loading and transferring a pallet of water, and it’s truly impressive to get that done in just five hours,” Lewis said. “Being able to meet the town’s need that quickly speaks to our volunteers’ attitude and just how much they want to help others, no matter the size of the disaster or where it is.”