Brewery halts beer production to supply water for Harvey victims

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. -- An Anheuser-Busch brewery in Georgia is shipping canned drinking water to the American Red Cross to help Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana.

The St. Louis-based beer giant says a truckload of water from its Cartersville, Georgia, brewery arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Monday.

More truckloads are scheduled to arrive in Arlington, Texas. More than 155,000 cans of water are being sent in total.



In the Houston area, the storm has already dropped more than 2 feet of rain and caused widespread and life-threatening flooding.

Anheuser-Busch says it periodically stops beer production at times throughout the year in order to can drinking water at the Georgia facility so it can be ready to go in times of need.

The donation is being made in response to the American Red Cross' call for emergency drinking water.

Anheuser-Busch Vice President of Community Affairs Bill Bradley said the decision to halt beer production at the Georgia brewery allows them to help communities in times of crisis. The company has been able to help during other emergencies, such as Hurricane Matthew, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and wildfires in the west.

"Putting our production and logistics strengths to work by providing safe, clean drinking water is the best way we can help in these situations," Bradley said.

The company says it has provided more than 76 million cans of drinking water for disaster relief since 1988.

Wire services contributed to this article.