CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia National Guard has been integral in helping residents struggling in the wake of last week’s major winter storm.
State Adjutant General Jim Hoyer praised Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issuing a State of Preparedness early enough for the Guard to get ready to respond.
“This governor is good about using the State of Preparedness and understanding that the guard needs to be able to pre-position some assets,” Hoyer said.
The widespread nature of the storm was a challenge, Hoyer said.
“Obviously there were some challenges for us because this one spanned from the west side of our state to the tip of the east side of our state,” he explained. “So logistically, that presents some other unique challenges.”
Hoyer said the primary focus of the Guard is “life, safety, health and welfare.” He said they were less concerned about helping individuals stuck, but more about preventing a crisis, such as helping one person suffering a cardiac emergency.
“If I had 20,000 Guardsmen and could put them all on duty, and the state budget could afford it, we could probably help more people dig out individually,” he said. “That’s not really where we’re able to focus, or in my opinion, where we should be focusing our support on.”
Hoyer credited Guardsmen for not only overcoming their own personal challenges in dealing with the storm, but also working as a team and pooling their many skills together.
“We’ve got people who are tow-truck drivers in civilian life, to electricians who can hook up generators, to PhD’s and medical doctors,” he said. “You put all that talent together and mix it in with the dedication of the first responders atthe county level and the interagency partners, and West Virginia does a pretty good job of responding.”
By Wednesday night, most counties across the Mountain State were getting back to normal life, with most school districts heading back to school Thursday after almost a week out.
Tomblin lifted the State of Emergency in effect Wednesday night for all West Virginia counties with the exception of Preston County and the Eastern Panhandle counties Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan.