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Anheuser-Busch Sends Water to Hurricane Harvey Victims

MillerCoors is also sending canned water to the Texas region battered by Harvey

Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Budweiser and one of the largest beer producers in the world, is transporting truckloads of cans — of drinking water — to victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Company spokeswoman Taylor Tchoukaleff said more than 100,000 cans will be delivered to Arlington, Texas, in addition to a delivery that arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Monday. Anheuser-Busch's distribution partner, Mockler Beverage, works with the Red Cross to deliver the canned water to communities in need.

MillerCoors is also sending canned water to the Texas region battered by Harvey. The beer purveyor said it is sending 50,000 cans of drinking water to their Revolver brewery in Granbury, Texas, about 250 miles northwest of Houston. The company said it is also donating $25,000 to the Red Cross.

"Providing clean water to communities enduring a crisis will aid in recovery and hopefully give some sense of comfort to those in need," said Karina Diehl, MillerCoors' director of community affairs, in a statement. 

The relief comes four days after Harvey ravaged the Texas coastline as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing with it 130 mph winds and flooding rains. Harvey remained a tropical storm Tuesday, dumping nearly 40 inches of rain in some places in Texas and inundating entire cities. 

Anheuser-Busch Cartersville brewery in Georgia produces cans of emergency relief water a few times a year, according to the company, partnering with the American Red Cross to provide to places in need within the United States.

"Throughout the year, we periodically pause beer production at our Cartersville, Georgia, brewery to produce emergency canned drinking water so we are ready to help out communities across the country in times of crisis," Bill Bradley, Vice President of Community Affairs at Anheuser-Busch said. "Putting our production and logistics strengths to work by providing safe, clean drinking water is the best way we can help in these situations."

In 2016, Anheuser-Busch produced and shipped over 2 million cans of emergency drinking water to communities hit by natural disasters, including the California wildfires, the Louisiana floods and Hurricane Matthew.

In May 2015, Anheuser-Busch completely halted beer production at its Georgia brewery in order to produce drinking water for those displaced by heavy storms and flooding in Texas and Oklahoma, NBC News reported.

CORRECTION (August 29, 2017, 8:12 a.m.): Earlier versions of this story incorrectly described Anheuser-Busch’s relief efforts. The company is providing water for Harvey victims, but has not halted production or shipments of beer.

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