U.S. Army Pfc. Attlee Simmons (left) and Cpl. Ernesto Pacheco, both assigned to the 249th Composite Supply Company, 189th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to head out from Fort Bragg and provide aid to the surrounding areas of North Carolina that have been flooded by Hurricane Florence, Sept. 15, 2018. (Andrew McNeil/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — As Hurricane Florence moved slowly toward North and South Carolina late last week, the Pentagon moved equipment and troops throughout the eastern United States, essentially encircling the storm.
Army and Air Force helicopters and high-water trucks moved into the Carolinas from Georgia, Kentucky and New York as two Navy ships — the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship, and the USS Arlington, an amphibious transport dock — followed Florence toward land, parking eventually about 10 miles off the East Coast near the North and South Carolina border.
Even as the flooding worsened Tuesday, four days after the category 1 storm made landfall, the military’s top general in charge of the hurricane response told reporters that the Pentagon’s plan had so far worked exactly as designed. Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy said he was confident he already had the equipment and personnel in place that he would need to continue to respond.
“The intent was that we could bring in the force regardless of [the condition] of the access routes, and that has paid off,” O’Shaughnessy, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, said from an operations center set up in Raleigh, N.C. “We’ve been able to deliver every time there has been a requirement, we have been able to bring the force to bear because we had the access and the prepositioned materials that were available.”
The storm did not impact exactly as predicted, he said. Florence, once a category 4 storm, was expected to produce damaging, life-threatening winds. But it’s been the water that’s had the major impact in the Carolinas, the general said. Florence slowed to a crawl, dumping feet of rain on the impacted areas. Some parts of North Carolina have received more than 40 inches of rain in the last seven days, according to the National Weather Service.
By Tuesday, the storm was blamed for at least 32 deaths, The Associated Press reported. Twenty-six of the reported deaths were in North Carolina.
O’Shaughnessy said the military has held its deployment of about 13,000 troops steady since the weekend and he does not anticipate a major change in that force size. That includes about 6,000 active-duty servicemembers and Air and Army National Guard troops largely from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. However, troops have deployed from as far away as Alaska to aid in the response, officials said.
Another 3,000 Coast Guard members, who do not report to the Pentagon, are also assisting, largely conducting helicopter- and shallow-water response and boat-based search-and-rescue operations. Since Friday, the Coast Guard has rescued 426 people and 234 pets, the service said Tuesday.
Petty Officer 2nd Class David Kelley patrols a flooded neighborhood in Lumberton, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, following flooding from Hurricane Florence. (Gerry Broome/AP)
Marines with Marine Corps Air Station New River conduct a clean up effort after Hurricane Florence at McCutcheon Manor on MCAS New River, N.C., Sept. 17, 2018. (Damaris Arias/U.S. Marine Corps photo)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Brian McKiernan, the deputy commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps., assesses the impact of Hurricane Florence on the Fayetteville, North Carolina, community from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, Sep. 17, 2018. (Michelle U. Blesam/U.S. Army photo)
A soldier with the South Carolina Army National Guard assists Conway Fire Search and Rescue teams with rescue efforts in Conway, S.C., in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, Sept. 17, 2018. (William Brown/U.S. Army National Guard)
Members of Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team Miami and Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South wait to be picked up by their rescue team after completing Hurricane Florence search and rescue operations in Brunswick County, North Carolina, Sept. 16, 2018. The Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue operations in support of state and local emergency operation centers U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Trevor Lilburn. (Trevor Lilburn/U.S. Coast Guard)
Since Friday, Defense Department troops have been primarily conducting search-and-rescue operations via helicopter and high-water and amphibious vehicles, often alongside local first responders, and moving supplies throughout the impacted area, where massive flooding has washed out roads, forcing officials to close much of North Carolina’s highway system.
On Tuesday, Marine MV-22 Ospreys from the Kearsarge and Arlington flew over the area for the first time to assess damage, officials said.
Troops whose own installations were impacted by the storm have been busy, O’Shaughnessy said. Soldiers from Fort Bragg, N.C., have joined local first responders on missions around the clock since Friday, he said. Marines at Camp Lejeune have assisted in 331 rescues or evacuations of civilians in the Jacksonville, N.C. area, where the base is located, he added.
However, O’Shaughnessy said most of the impacted military bases throughout the region were largely returning to normal by Tuesday. Though flooding remained a concern at Fort Bragg, much of the post’s personnel returned to work Tuesday, officials said. O’Shaughnessy said the installation was militarily operational as of Tuesday afternoon.
Camp Lejeune, however, remained largely closed Tuesday, but officials announced the base’s commissary was expected to reopen Wednesday. Non-essential personnel are not expected to return to work at the Marine base until Sept. 24.
O’Shaughnessy credited a joint response from the Pentagon, federal, state and local officials for working together well in reacting to the storm. But federal and state officials warned Florence’s impacts would likely continue to worsen as major rivers crested, and advised those people who evacuated not to return to their homes yet.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” O’Shaughnessy said. “The flooding aspect is the most significant impact, and that part is still ongoing.”
