Guard Responds to Weather Damage, Wildfires

By Army Sgt. Darron Salzer

National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., July 2, 2012 – National Guard soldiers and airmen are responding to damage left behind by severe weather and destructive wildfires in several states across the U.S. today.

Along the East Coast and in parts of the Midwest, high temperatures and severe thunderstorms caused power outages for millions over the weekend.

More than 750 Guard members from the District of Columbia, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia responded to provide traffic control points, door-to-door health and wellness checks and debris removal.

West Virginia National Guard members have cleared more than 920 truckloads of debris from the storm and have helped with refueling of backup generators at hospitals and nursing homes, officials said.

In Florida, where heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby lingered for several days, about 70 Florida National Guard members are continuing flood support missions. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Air Force Maj. Gen. Emmett R. Titshaw Jr., state’s adjutant general, visited residents in the affected areas June 29.

“Talking to some of the people, it was very gratifying to hear when they told me they were rescued by the Florida National Guard,” Titshaw said. “It’s the reason we do what we do.”

In the western states, Guard members from Colorado continue to battle wildfires there that have burned more than 100,000 acres of woodlands and either destroyed or damaged personal property. National Guard reports said that as of yesterday, the High Park wildfire was 100 percent contained and the Waldo Canyon wildfire was 45 percent contained.

Guard members also are responding to wildfires in Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming, where operations include setting up checkpoints and providing UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters equipped with buckets for aerial fire support.