As Hurricane Joaquin bears down on the eastern U.S., hundreds of National Guardsmen throughout the East Coast are gearing up for response operations related to Hurricane Joaquin.
The Virginia National Guard on Thursday was approved given the green light to activate 800 soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force. The troops are scheduled to stand up readiness centers in Hampton Roads, central Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and southwest Virginia by Friday evening. Those teams are prepared to use Humvees and light and medium tactical trucks for high water transport, as well as engineers with chain saws, trucks, and heavy engineer equipment for debris reduction and downed tree removal, said Lt. Col. Douglas Gagnon, deputy director of joint operations for the Virginia Guard.
Meanwhile, National Guard officials in New York and New Jersey are coordinating with state and local authorities to facilitate a quick response if called into action. Both states were hammered by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Approximately 12,000 guardsmen were called into action during the aftermath of that storm, with the largest contingent working in those two states where they conducted search and rescue and provided food and water distribution, debris removal, route clearance, power generation support, and assistance in maintaining civil order.
The Navy and Marine Corps also were involved in the response.
"We're seeing what support the (New Jersey Office of Emergency Management) may need as the storm gets closer," Kryn Westhoven, spokesman for the New Jersey National Guard, said in a news release.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday night issued an emergency declaration, which allows him to activate the Maryland National Guard. No activation orders had been issued as of 10 p.m.
The National Hurricane Center upgraded Joaquin to a Category 4 on Thursday afternoon and warned that it would likely strengthen. Most forecasts suggested the storm could skirt the East Coast, but still drop heavy winds and rain from North Carolina into the mid-Atlantic states by Sunday. Much of southwest Virginia has already experienced flooding as a result of continuous rains over the past week.
If a coastal state takes a direct hit, the Emergency Management Assistance Compact allows the governor to request Guard assistance from nearby states as needed. The system makes available nearly 460,000 Guard members from throughout the country to support response operations.
