Iowa Guardsmen heading with helicopters to hurricane duty

The helicopters and Airmen, who are based at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. were carried in two C-17s assigned to the 105th Airlift Wing from Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, N.Y. From there, current models have Irma lumbering northwest through the center of the Florida peninsula and into Alabama, Georgia and beyond.

The Nebraska National Guard is assisting with hurricane relief operations again, this time in Florida.

“We are on Zodiac boats with outboard engines and we are making access into these neighborhoods to treat, assess and evacuate as many people as possible”, said Lt. Dan Warren, a combat rescue officer with the 212th Rescue Squadron. The Navy said 36 personnel from NAS Key West were at a Category 5-rated hotel near the base.

That unit is the largest unit in the state and includes soldiers from across Wisconsin.

They will soon be joined by additional soldiers from the unit and Headquarters Company, 1-376th Aviation (Security and Support), which is expected to deploy on Monday.

Gen. Hagler said states have become much better at sharing resources since the 1996 implementation of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, primarily a state-to-state agreement approved by Congress in the years after Hurricane Andrew.

Members of the Corps of Engineers were monitoring the Herbert Hoover Dike on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, as well as working to restore power in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico.

The National Guard has 450,000 Guard members across the nation to help respond in the humanitarian disaster recovery effort.

Trovato says some of the troops heading to Florida recently helped in Racine and Kenosha counties when heavy rains flooded the area.

Storm surge flooding in downtown Jacksonville exceeded a record set during a 1964 hurricane by at least 1 foot, according to the National Weather Service. “We know exactly where they are, what process they’re in, who they’re reporting to, what their destination is and if there’s any mishaps that go along the way or any personnel swap outs, down to the single airman and soldier we maintain constant accountability of our troops”, White said.

The land service response by Saturday included more than 7,400 soldiers and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers civilians in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the continental United States, the Army statement said. NYTF-2 is a 35-member, state level, Type 3, Urban Search and Rescue team with water rescue capabilities.