Troops Assist With Hurricane Response in Southeast

STARKE, Fla. - More than 4,600 National Guardsmen were on duty in Florida and across the Southeast Friday, assisting victims of Hurricane Helene.

As the massive storm moved ashore at Florida's Big Bend area late Thursday night, 3,900 members of the Florida National Guard were staged throughout the area to offer humanitarian assistance, security, debris cleanup and search and rescue missions with 450 tactical vehicles, 13 helicopters, boats and generators.

Florida National Guard members were spread out in 21 counties to support and coordinate emergency response missions and requests for help.

The Florida National Guard conducted search and rescue missions to support local authorities in Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Pasco, and Hernando counties to recover distressed civilians. Thirty people were rescued and evacuated from flooded areas in Pasco and Hernando counties as of Friday morning.

Florida National Guard engineering resources were deployed to assist with route clearance in Taylor and Dixie counties. Six Zodiac boats were assigned to search and rescue missions in Taylor County.

The Florida National Guard was also supporting a logistics distribution mission in Hernando County and staffing and supporting the State Logistics Response Center in Orlando.

The Alabama National Guard contributed more than 40 Guardsmen and UH-60, HH-60, Chinook, and UH-72 helicopters to assist in the Florida response. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III approved Brig. Gen. Alexander Harlamor of the Florida Army National Guard to serve as dual-status commander to coordinate the federal/state military response in Florida.

With states of emergency declared in Florida and Georgia, Austin also approved a dual-status commander in Georgia, where hundreds of National Guard members were positioned to respond to the storm.

Members of the Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia National Guard were prepared to respond in those states as the storm tracked north, bringing heavy rain and wind.

The Virginia National Guard staged Soldiers with tactical trucks capable of high mobility transportation in the Abingdon area and two Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoist capabilities in the Roanoke area. They were linking with local emergency managers to assist as needed.

"The Virginia National Guard is ready to support the commonwealth during times of need, and we are currently mobilizing a team as this storm approaches," said Brig. Gen. Todd Hubbard, Virginia National Guard director of the joint staff. "When our troops get the call to assist Virginia localities, they leave their loved ones and their jobs on short notice. We owe a special thanks to their families and employers for their continued support which is so critical to mission success."

Typical missions for the National Guard during hurricane or tropical storm response operations are transporting first responders, distributing food and water to citizens in remote areas using trucks to move through high water, and providing chain saw teams to reduce debris to clear roads or power line routes.

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Contributing: Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs

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