HESCO defensive barriers are best known for protecting soldiers from attack during deployment in conflict zones but, throughout the Quad Cities, HESCO barriers have been defending against a different kind of threat; the Mississippi River.
With Iowa County declared as a local disaster by the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) Iowa officials deployed HESCO flood barriers to protect property and businesses from the rising river, and HESCO Bastion sent its Technical Support Team to assist with the installation.
HESCO team member Aaron Ackley, a US Army veteran, has extensive experience deploying HESCO earth-filled barriers around the world from tropical storms in Thailand to Hurricane Isaac in the US. During the construction of a HESCO flood wall around Cole’s Mobile Home Court along the Iowa River, he met Richard Taylor, a resident of Johnson County. Richard spoke about his son who had served overseas with US Army and had first-hand experience with HESCO barriers:
"My son was telling me about these HESCO baskets and how they protected him in Iraq, but I never thought they would end up saving my home too."
HESCO defensive barriers are used to build protective perimeters and accommodation bunkers, creating save havens for soldiers in the most volatile of places, and now, when returning home and faced with losing all their possession in another season of flooding, soldiers and their families can be assured that the same level of protection they rely on during deployment will now protect them here at home.