UPDATE 10/1/2024 8:45 p.m. — The West Virginia National Guard’s mission to help North Carolina with disaster recovery efforts has been put on hold, according to Governor Jim Justice.
It was announced Tuesday afternoon that the National Guard’s mission was to send 12 Airmen from the 130th Airlift Wing, including a Fatality Seach and Recovery Team, to North Carolina, while South Carolina would get 30 troops that included engineers and loader dump teams to help with reconstruction and debris cleanup.
Justice says the West Virginia National Guard mission to South Carolina remains on, and the state will be ready to send troops to North Carolina once they assess their needs.
“Shortly after I announced the mission during my briefing this afternoon, we were notified that the North Carolina National Guard has put their request on hold as they continue to assess their response needs,” Justice said in a release Tuesday evening. “We’ve assured them that we’re on standby to provide support at a moment’s notice and in any capacity. The West Virginia National Guard is made up of some of the bravest men and women on the planet, and I know they’re ready to step in whenever and wherever help is needed the most. With that being said, their mission to South Carolina remains a go, and they’re prepared to assist.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia National Guard have been activated to aid in the Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Hurricane Helene is responsible for over 130 deaths in the United States, with multiple areas in the Carolinas seeing loss of life, missing residents, and billions of dollars’ worth of estimated cleanup and rebuilding costs.
Governor Jim Justice, who made the announcement in his media briefing Tuesday, says the level of damage in the Carolinas is unthinkable.
“It’s just unthinkable,” Justice said. “All of these great people in this area that are going through loss of life and everything else like you can’t imagine, our prayers are with them.”
12 Airmen from the 130th Airlift Wing, including a Fatality Seach and Recovery Team, will be deploying in North Carolina. These Airmen will work with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, North Carolina Emergency Management, the North Carolina National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in their search and rescue operations.
30 troops that include engineers and loader dump teams will be going to South Carolina to support the state’s reconstruction and debris cleanup efforts. The West Virginia troops will team up with local, state, and federal agencies while deployed.
Justice thanked the state’s National Guard for stepping up for North and South Carolina in their times of need and says he’s thankful the bulk of the damage Southern West Virginia saw was manageable.
“We thank our National Guard for stepping up and doing all the unbelievable work that they’re doing,” Justice said. “Thank goodness even though it was primarily Mercer, McDowell and Wyoming Counties that were affected, we didn’t have any really, really bad effects from Hurricane Helene.”
Asheville, North Carolina, a city with a population exceeding 400,000 people, was one of the largest areas in North Carolina that saw the brute of the damage and devastation, while other small towns in the state were nearly washed away.
Justice says the rain that hit Asheville is hard to fathom.
“If you’ll just step back and think about this, I think in the Asheville (North Carolina) area, they had 36 inches of rain,” Justice said. “It is honestly unbelievable to think about such a rain.”
Justice also says the extent of the damage from the hurricane was likely not anticipated by the Asheville residents.
“Think about the fact that the folks in Asheville, North Carolina, an unbelievable tourist town and everything, would they have every thought in 10 billion years, that they would be affected materially by a hurricane?”
Maj. Gen Bill Crane, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, said in a release, that National Guard members from West Virginia are ready to assist those in need.
“When our neighboring states call, we will always be there to answer that call,” Crane said. “The level of devastation we are seeing across our news feeds is beyond belief, and we know that both the citizens and the first responders in the impacted areas are in desperate need of help.”