Up to 1,000 Fort Liberty soldiers are being deployed to western North Carolina to assist in recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, per a request from Gov. Roy Cooper and approved Wednesday by President Joe Biden.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the active-duty military personnel are joining over 1,000 N.C. National Guard soldiers “who are surging food, water, supplies and conducting search and rescue operations” in the region. Soldiers are expected in the impacted areas within the next day.
Across the Southeast, the storm left significant destruction and devastation with flash flooding and rising rivers in western North Carolina, and has left much of the region inaccessible by road. The death toll in Buncombe County has risen to 40 people, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.
The infantry battalion task force being deployed to western North Carolina is formed from the XVII Airborne Corps and includes members of the 82nd Airborne Division and other units on Fort Liberty. Included in the task force is a forward support company intended to bolster essential services in the state through support structures like fuel, water and mechanics, the governor’s office said.
The soldiers join others from the U.S. Department of Defense already on the ground supporting FEMA and other partner agencies in recovery and rescue operations, a DOD press release states.
“Employment of these Soldiers will provide additional manpower and logistics capabilities, enabling FEMA and other interagency partners to reach the hardest hit areas as quickly as possible,” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement. “Their mission will include delivering support and commodities to impacted and isolated communities, assisting with supply point logistics at commodity staging locations, and removing debris from affected routes.”
Read Ryder’s full statement and the White House statement on on Hurricane Helene response efforts in western North Carolina
what took them so long to respond!