Thousands of National Guardsmen throughout the Southeastern coast from Florida to North Carolina have been activated as now-Tropical Storm Debby barrels north, flooding communities, spawning tornadoes and claiming lives along the way.
As of Thursday morning, a total of nearly 4,000 Guardsmen had been activated, Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Military.com.
Debby’s path from the Southeast and northward spawned multiple tornadoes in several states, the Weather Channel reported. As of Thursday, at least six people have been killed — the most recent death coming from a tornado in North Carolina, CNN reported.
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North Carolina officials announced Thursday that nearly 400 members of the state’s National Guard and more than 130 vehicles were activated for recovery and response to the flooding, winds and damage from the storm.
North Carolina’s activation and preparation of its Guard units follows Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia’s National Guards work to prepare and respond to Debby’s damage in their local communities.
The Virginia National Guard said in a press release that 130 soldiers have been alerted and began preparing personnel as well as “tactical trucks capable of high water transportation” on Thursday at Guard facilities in Lynchburg, Danville and Petersburg to respond to possible impacts from Debby.
The Georgia Army National Guard’s 177th Engineer Battalion has been deployed in Bulloch County, just northwest of Savannah, to clean up storm damage and help reopen roads, according to NBC’s WSAV affiliate. Rising waters caused by two dams that were breached in the past day as well as heavy rainfall from Debby have led to widespread flooding and road closures in that community.
Upward of 3,000 Florida National Guard members were activated amid the storms, according to a Tuesday press release from the Army, with units working a variety of tasks from “route clearing and debris removal on city streets” to providing help with assisted living facilities.
The South Carolina and Kentucky National Guards also sent assets to assist the Sunshine State, Military.com previously reported.
Debby made landfall Monday near the Florida panhandle as a Category 1 hurricane and began traveling through Georgia before hitting the Atlantic Ocean again. It returned to land near Charleston, South Carolina, and began meandering north into North Carolina as a tropical storm.
President Joe Biden has approved disaster declarations for Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina as of Thursday.
“More than 900 FEMA staff and federal partners are deployed in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a press release Thursday. “Search-and-rescue teams and swift water rescue assets stand ready to assist as needed.”
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