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In the wake of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall last week and has since dissipated, National Guard units in the hardest-hit states across the American Southeast are still working alongside state emergency response agencies to get life back on track for communities affected by the storm.
About 6,700 guardsmen from 16 states across the U.S. have been activated to provide assistance, as part of emergency management assistance compacts, in the states hit hardest by the hurricane. Guard members are engaged in operations such as highwater rescues, debris clearance, transportation and distribution of disaster relief supplies, search and rescue, and route clearance.
How long National Guard members will need to stay activated is unclear now, said Army Maj. Gen. Win Burkett, director of operations at the National Guard Bureau.
"The response is going to be a determination by the governors in each of these states when they can shift — lifesaving, life sustaining, to recovery and that longer-term recovery," he said. "It's generally at that point that the National Guard has a smaller and smaller ... role to play. But the prediction ... by state or by area in each of these states is going to be dramatically different based on the conditions on the ground and where the governor thinks they can make that transition."
Army Col. Paul Hollenack, commander of the North Carolina National Guard's 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, said the guard in his state has no plans yet to shutter its activities.
"We're here until the mission is done," he said.
In North Carolina, Hollenack said, the National Guard has over 1,100 soldiers and airmen on active duty, and is making use of nearly 400 vehicles, including 26 aircraft.
"We have support from 10 different states," he said. " a lot of appreciation to our other state partners who have provided equipment and people to help us."
Hollenack said the Guard in North Carolina works out of "force packages," and 200 of those have been activated and are now working out of 20 locations across western North Carolina.
"Yesterday, we passed the million-pounds-of-commodities-delivered threshold, with 600,000 pounds of that going by air — food, water and supplies into western North Carolina," he said. "We've rescued ... over 500 people and 150 pets through the search and rescue operations. Working through clearing road obstacles is another major effort. trying to get access and then continue to get those ground supply routes established into western North Carolina."
In South Carolina, more than 1,000 guard personnel are now on duty, said Army Col. Jason Turner, Director of Military Support with the South Carolina National Guard.
"South Carolina is supporting South Carolina and North Carolina with aviation support," he said. "And from South Carolina's perspective, the rescued number, the last number I was given, was at 32."
The state is also working with eight other states through emergency management assistance compact for support. Right now, Turner said, assistance is flowing in from Florida, Mississippi, New York and Michigan to support the South Carolina National Guard.
"We will put them to work once they get here," he said.
The biggest effort so far, he said, has been debris clearing. That includes clearing roads of trees, for instance, so that ground transportation can be reopened and agencies like power companies can get to work restoring power.
"We've got aviation, we've got engineers, we've got logistics, we have drones, we have multiple engineer types equipment that is on the road," he said. "We bring to bear the equipment we have to assist the citizens."
In Tennessee, said Army Lt. Col. Meredith Richardson, commander of the Tennessee National Guard's Task Force 176, there are about 300 personnel on the ground working to provide assistance in the state.
"From Friday, while aviation was simultaneously in the air ... we also had personnel on the ground in high-water vehicles, working with our emergency management crews, assisting with areas that we could get out to with search and rescue and welfare checks in our high-water vehicles," she said. "We are operating in six different counties. We have ... heavy engineer support, just like the other states, doing debris removal in order to open up that critical infrastructure."
Richardson also said the Tennessee Guard is involved in distribution of supplies and commodities from 12 different points of distribution
"We are also providing bulk water distribution at shelters and medical facilities as water has very quickly become a dire need across the communities," she said.
The Tennessee National Guard has nine aircraft in operation across the state, along with 100 aviation personnel operating that equipment.
"We have two medevac aircraft that are currently on immediate medical response anything that pops up. They'll immediately be available. And then a bunch of lift assets that are doing water movement, supply movement. Any kind of equipment that is needed by these counties is currently being fulfilled by those," said Army Maj. Hulon Holmes, the commander of the Tennessee National Guard's Medevac Detachment.
A concern also with the National Guard in all affected areas — in addition to deploying and helping their communities recover — is taking care of the guardsmen themselves, many of whom have also been affected by the storms. That's something that's on the minds of guard leaders, said Burkett.
"In every event that we respond to, in addition to responding to the needs at the local levels, we're also checking on the status of our military families, and that's everybody. That's the civilians that support our team, as well as the airmen and the soldiers," Burkett said.
