National Guard Deploys Over 5,900 from 10 States, Canada to Aid Hurricane Helene Response

Boats pushed ashore by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene, in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sept. 28, 2024. Mike Carlson/AP Photo

The U.S. National Guard said on Sept. 29 that it has deployed more than 5,900 members from at least 10 states to assist with Hurricane Helene response efforts in several states across the Southeast.

The storm has caused widespread damage and power outages in flood-ravaged areas in Florida and North Carolina. More than 100 storm-related fatalities have been reported in six states, according to an Associated Press tally.

Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Florida’s Big Bend coast on Sept. 26.

Guardsmen were mobilized in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, with help from the national guards of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Connecticut, and others, the National Guard said.

In Florida, more than 3,900 guard members and 18 Mississippi guard members used 13 helicopters and Zodiac boats to rescue more than 150 people and cleared about 1,180 miles of roads.

“It’s pretty devastating to look at a lot of homes that have been wiped off the foundations and a lot of people that are probably going to be having to restart their lives pretty shortly,” Army Brig. Gen. Alex Harlamor of the Florida National Guard said in a statement.

Fifty-four people were rescued from the roof of Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, and six residents were rescued in Virginia, according to the National Guard.

Ballad Health, which manages the Unicoi County Hospital, said on Sept. 27 that the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and National Guard members were engaged in “a dangerous rescue operation” as the hospital was engulfed by “extremely dangerous and rapidly moving water.”

In an update on social media platform X, Ballad Health said it received a notice to evacuate the hospital because of “unusually high” water from the Nolichucky River. But flooding and high winds prevented ambulances and helicopters from getting to the hospital.

More than 400 guard members were deployed to support rescue missions and recovery operations in North Carolina, including clearing roads and transporting supplies to affected areas.

In North Carolina, Pamlico County Emergency Management described the damage caused by flooding in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock as “unimaginable” and said that 106 people have been evacuated.

North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards said on Sept. 29 that more than 200 people had been rescued since Sept. 26, as dozens of swift water and helicopter rescue crews were deployed from North Carolina and seven neighboring states to assist with the state’s rescue efforts.

Edwards said that energy providers have been working around the clock to get power restored with the help of additional crews from 19 states and Canada. Over 630,000 customer accounts in the state were still without power as of Saturday afternoon, the congressman said.

Duke Energy said on Sept. 29 that it had restored power to more than 1.1 million customers in South Carolina and North Carolina, although 904,000 other customers in some areas of each state remained without power.

Customers in upstate South Carolina and the North Carolina mountains will have their power restored by Oct. 4, except for those in inaccessible areas, dependent on destroyed infrastructure, or unable to receive service, the company said.

Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy’s storm director for the Carolinas, said “stretches of damage” are still inaccessible because of mudslides, flooding, and blocked roads.

“Based on what we can see on the ground, from helicopter and by drone, there are lots of areas across the South Carolina Upstate and North Carolina mountains where we’re going to have to completely rebuild parts of our system, not just repair it,” Hollifield said in a statement.

On Sept. 29, President Joe Biden approved major disaster declarations for North Carolina and Florida. The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated that emergency declarations remain active in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Reuters contributed to this report.