CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WVEC) — The Virginia National Guard is preparing to assist with the state's response to Hurricane Florence.
Up to 1,500 Soldiers, Airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force will be brought up to state active duty. Governor Ralph Northam has authorized up to 6,000 personnel for response operations, and those individuals are alerted and on standby.
The National Guard will help with high water transportation, debris reduction, commodity distribution, shelter management assistance, and rotary wing aviation search and rescue. Personnel will be staged at readiness centers in key locations throughout the commonwealth.
The process to notify personnel to report for duty has begun, and they are scheduled to be in place by early afternoon on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018, and ready to provide support.
“The key to being able to rapidly respond is staging personnel and resources in strategic locations before the severe weather hits so they can quickly respond to assist communities if they are impacted by the severe weather from Hurricane Florence,” explained Brig. Gen. James Ring, Virginia National Guard director of the joint the staff.
The Virginia National Guard is not able to respond to direct support requests from the public. People in need should call 911 and not the VNG directly.
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