(The Center Square) – Southeastern governors, even those affected by Hurricane Helene, are sending National Guard, law enforcement and other first responders to western North Carolina.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on social media he’s dispatched a Florida Department of Transportation crew and heavy equipment, including 7,500 feet of temporary bridges, to North Carolina to help with damage assessments and roadway repairs. Parts of several interstates, including Interstate 40 and Interstate 26, were washed out by Helene’s floodwaters.
Florida’s Special Missions Unit sent a team to North Carolina, joining Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Alabama sent a 13-person group, consisting of 11 Air National Guard airmen from around the state who serve as Alabama’s Fatality Search and Recovery Team, three swift water rescue teams and one cadaver dog team.
“Hurricane Helene left war zone-like devastation in its path, and Alabama is here to lend a helping hand as our neighboring states begin responding and recovering,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a release. “North Carolina was especially impacted, and without hesitation, I am directing an Alabama National Guard team, in addition to other first responders, to aid in the search and rescue mission there.
“I pray for the safety of this team and that they are successful in their mission to rescue as many people as possible in the devastated parts of North Carolina.”
Mississippi deployed three generators to Georgia, along with a CH-47 Chinook and two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to Florida.
Helene made landfall in Dekle Beach in Taylor County, Fla., on Thursday night as a Category 4 storm. It was the most powerful storm to hit the Big Bend region in recorded history with winds of 140 mph and surge flooding of 20 feet or more in some areas.
The storm went north, weakening to tropical storm and then depression strength before finally dissipating over Tennessee, but not before it hit parts of Georgia, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina with flooding rainfall.
Helene-related river flooding swamped cities like Asheville and Boone, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded without power awaiting the floodwaters to recede. According to the National Weather Service, from Wednesday to Friday, Asheville received nearly 14 inches of rain.