NC National Guard Update on Hurricane Florence Support

RALEIGH, NC (September 15, 2018) — With Epic amounts of rainfall and walls of water and wind, 2,800 NC Guardmen are on State Active Duty.

NC National Guard’s first priority and mission remains safeguarding the lives and property of our state’s citizens and visitors over the past two days with a focus on Robeson, Carteret and Craven counties.

At the direction of NC Emergency Management’s Eastern and Central Branches, NC Guard Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen continue to work at the county and local level with our state partners conducting disaster response missions, with over 1,000 more Guardsmen on standby.

The Guard’s primary missions remain 1) preservation of life and safety of our citizens and visitors, 2) route clearance of roads, specifically federal and state highways, 3) communications and cyber support to state and local authorities and 4) sustainment and logistics support for military personnel, emergency responders and civilians.

Guardsmen, in support of swift water rescue and on independent missions have conducted approximately 120 high-water rescues and evacuations with 50 vehicles and have rescued 203 people and 75 pets. The Guard also conducted sandbag operations in Lumberton and dozens of commodity transports to designated county locations.

NC Guard units in the central part of NC are positioned to support our state partners and NC Emergency Management and expect operations to increase today and over the next week in counties west of I-95 along the border with South Carolina.

Press Release courtesy of the NC National Guard