(Host) Thirty-one members of the Vermont Air National Guard left the state Wednesday morning to help people on the Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Gustav.
At the same time, 120 members of the Army Guard have been called up to prepare for two other hurricanes that are approaching the U.S.
Captain Kate Irish says the members of the Air Guard landed yesterday afternoon in Alexandria, Louisiana.
(Irish) "They don’t have a real hard and fast mission as of this point. The group that we sent was comprised of civil engineers, medical personnel and also security forces, so we’ve kind of got the gamut of specialties going and they’re prepared to help in any way needed.”
(Host) Irish says the group is prepared to spend two weeks or more in Louisiana, depending on how much help is needed.
The Army Guard expects to be called on if there are other disasters in the meantime. And Irish says that appears likely.
(Irish) "Obviously everyone knows that there are other hurricanes on their way. Everybody’s waiting to see where things will hit, what direction things will go. So that’s why we’ve got this other force getting ready and preparing, so if they’re needed, they’re ready to go.”
(Host) Forecasters say there are three tropical storms in the Atlantic that are likely to develop into hurricanes over the next few days.
Tropical Storm Hanna could hit the southeastern United States and move up the East Coast by this weekend.