In addition to being a fun-sounding story, this is excellent logistics for emergency services.
Australian Navy Delivers 800 Gallons of Emergency Beer to Bushfire-Hit Town
By Simon Kent, 10 January 2020
The Royal Australian Navy was applauded Friday after one of its ships completed an emergency beer run to help resupply a pub besieged by bushfires.
More than a thousand people have been evacuated from the small town of Mallacoota in the state of Victoria, with the military sending landing craft to collect families trapped there since New Year’s Eve.
But after several shuttle runs and with the immediate emergency ebbing the navy delivered much-needed supplies, including a precious cargo of beer to thirsty survivors and bushfire responders, a department of defense spokesperson confirmed to AFP.
“The beer is not occupying unnecessary space on HMAS Choules and essential supplies were not offloaded to accommodate the beer,” the spokesperson added.
The emergency delivery included 20 kegs and four pallets of beer and cider for a town that usually has a population of around 1,000.
“A pub with no beer is bad enough at the best of times,” said Carlton and United Breweries CEO Peter Filipovic. “After what Mallacoota residents and firies have been through the least we could do is make sure they could enjoy a beer.”
“We’re not sure if the Navy has ever shipped beer to civilians before but these fires are an extraordinary disaster,” he added.
There’s no need to apologize for the beer run. People who haven’t been through a for-real, extended emergency have NO IDEA how important the little rituals of life are to psychological health. If you normally start your day with coffee then be sure your go bag has some instant in it.
There’s more to surviving a crisis than calories-per-day and austere medical techniques. I would argue that the psych aspect is even more important than food because the real harm is when people panic. (Admittedly, full bellies is a good way to prevent desperation. But again, that’s more than calories-per-day thinking.)
The 16,000-tonne UK-built relief ship HMAS Choules has been a steady presence off the Australian coast since the bushfires started last November.
Not only has it been assisting humans in need, it has also been happy to rescue pets and associated wildlife and take them to safety along with human cargo.
Pet rescue is also helpful to human emotional survival. Less so wildlife, but I doubt they’re actually rounding up frightened wild animals to house offshore in confined quarters.