CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Seventy-five tractor trailers loaded with bottled water from FEMA are scheduled to arrive at the Air National Guard Armory in Charleston Friday afternoon for distribution to the areas impacted by Thursday’s chemical spill.
Guard spokesman Col. Mike Cadle said the water is traveling from a FEMA site in Maryland. He said a staging area was established at the Air Base Thursday night.
“We will receive that water from FEMA, off-load it into vehicles that will then take it out to distribution points in the affected counties and work with the local emergency services folks in those counties to distribute the water,” Cadle said.
The Guard operation will be much like it was during the Derecho and Sandy in 2012.
“We did this same thing,” Cadle said. “It’s something we’ve worked with FEMA well on for the past several years. We really know what we’re doing here and we’re hopeful when those trucks arrive we can push that water right away.”
The distribution sites will be established Friday morning.