NC National Guard helped stranded motorists, recoveries, during storm

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The North Carolina National Guard deployed more than 450 soldiers across the state in response to the weekend winter storm. Over the past 48 hours, national guardsmen and women mobilized and deployed to the eastern, central and western parts of the state.

"We had folks working mainly along the I-40, I-26 corridors and I-77 where there could be stranded semitrucks and other motorists," said Brigadier General West Morrison.

The mission for this storm has been vehicle recoveries and supporting state agencies such as NCDOT, State Highway Patrol and Emergency Management. Morrison said four-wheel drive vehicles were pre-positioned across the state. In one instance, soldiers with the National Guard used their equipment to move an 18-wheeler that had gotten stuck.

"Most of the soldiers that responded to this were involved in Hurricane Helene. The staff you see behind me and downstairs were all involved in Helene. This was our largest call up since Hurricane Helene," he said.

According to Morrison, braving the extreme cold weather was a major challenge this time around. Fortunately, the NCNG prepared for a number of situations that didn't happen including mass evacuations and power outages.

"The power situation was the most concerning that we were going to lose a lot of power. We had generators on standby. We moved other generators from other agencies and we didn't have to do any of that," said BG Morrison.

Eyewitness News walked through the joint operations center with Command Sergeant Major Wells Hayes. He showed off how he is able to keep track of soldiers through digital and analog systems in case power goes out.

"This is the joint operations center, so in really big events like Helene, this place was full. All these seats were filled up," said Command Sergeant Major Wells Hayes. "It shows where they're at so that if they get in trouble we can send messages through that system. We can see where they are located to help get resources to them," said CSM Hayes.

The NCNG is in the process of evaluating how long soldiers will be deployed. Conversations are happening now around if they will be needed this weekend for another potential storm.

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