LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Troops from Michigan’s National Guard are at work in North Carolina, assisting communities recovering from Hurricane Helene. The company traveled from michigan to Burnsville as part of the ongoing emergency response mission to support areas impacted by severe flooding.
Major Megan Breen of Michigan’s 507th Engineer Battalion said soldiers in her company touched down in North Carolina Monday afternoon. On the ground, the soldiers have said businesses and homes in the area have all seen severe damage from Hurricane Helene’s flooding.
“It’s just about everybody in the area that they’re at, it seems that that area was hit pretty hard, everybody’s dealing with what the storm left,” Breen said. “There is quite a bit of damage, a lot of trees down, buildings in quite a bit of disrepair.”
The 1436 Engineer Company has been tasked with a 10-14 day debris removal mission. The group will be using heavy machinery to move trees and rubble off of the roads, and cleaning up standing buildings to create community spaces.
Michigan is one of around 20 states to activate its National Guard in response to the storms. Every state has different guard capabilities, and with two engineer battalions, Michigan is uniquely equipped to help with the heavy equipment needed for cleanup.
Hurricane Helene and related storms are already estimated to have taken hundreds of lives and caused billions of dollars in damages across the southeast. On Wednesday, Hurricane Milton is expected to hit land in Florida with even stronger winds.
“This is what they joined to do to support their communities. Whether it’s here at home in Michigan or our brothers and sisters in North Carolina,” Breen said. “We’ve got the folks here at the headquarters kind of leaning forward to look at if asked to support other follow-on missions what do we have available in the state.”
Major Breen said that as guard members begin work in North Carolina, there have been no other official plans or requests for assistance in other state, but the guard remains ready to help as soon as that ask comes.
Michigan Nation Guard members spent their first day mobilized clearing debris from a church in Burnsville, North Carolina. Approximately 40 soldiers from the 1436th Engineer Company, 507th Engineer Battalion, traveled from base in Montague, to help impacted communities in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
The Guard was originally mobilized to South Carolina on October 4 but was retasked and arrived in North Carolina on October 7 as part of the ongoing emergency response mission to support areas impacted by severe flooding. The Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers will assist federal and local authorities with debris removal and road clearing.
The Michigan National Guard received a request from North Carolina, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). Through EMAC, a disaster-impacted state can request and receive assistance from other member states quickly and efficiently. All costs associated with deploying resources under EMAC are paid for by the requesting state. Members of EMAC include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
