NC Air National Guard heads to Western NC communities hit hard by Helene

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Members of the North Carolina Air National Guard took part in hauling 100,000 pounds of food and water to hard-hit areas in Western North Carolina.

Queen City News was invited along for the trip, which took place on a C17 cargo jet that flew from Charlotte to Asheville.

Along with personnel, the jet was loaded with meals ready to eat, water and a forklift to haul all of the palettes off.

The food, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is meant for those with severe access issues.

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Queen City News had a chance to speak with some of the guardmen taking part in the mission to Asheville.

SSgt. Alex Pracher from Gastonia took part in the mission.  An Appalachian State University graduate, he has been in touch with a former roommate in Boone on the situation in the High Country, which has included flooding and bridges being washed or wiped out.

“He was able to FaceTime me and show me the damage of the old apartment we lived in and it’s pretty devastating,” he said.

Everyone Queen City News had a chance to speak with has some sort of personal stake or connection in helping out the areas hardest hit by the flooding from Tropical Storm Helene.

One of the pilots on Monday’s mission, Maj. William Paul of Salisbury noted he had family in the affected region.  He said they are doing well and have been in touch.  However, Paul noted the extent of the devastation he could see from the air.

“The picture are obviously shocking.  I’ve seen them, like you, and even coming in, there was still a great amount of water coming in there,” he said.  “It’s one thing to see it in pictures, it’s another to see it in real life.”

The North Carolina Air National Guard was joined by the North Carolina Army National Guard, along with similar forces from South Carolina, Florida, Iowa and Maryland.

Queen City News noticed numerous choppers from various agencies heading out in all directions to assess, and in some cases, provide assistance or attempt rescues.

“So, mostly, we’ll make a lot of logistics runs,” said Maj. Jay Hosack with the North Carolina Army National Guard, from Kannapolis.  “Food and water, grid coordinates looking for people who reached out to Emergency Management through 911.  Anything that’s made it to Raleigh, funneling through the Emergency Management channels gets processed and assigned to aircrews.”

Maj. Paul noted the unusual nature of the mission, but the need currently for it.

“It’s normally not the best option to bring it in by air, it’s too costly,” he said.  “But when the roads are closed and it’s not practical and it takes too long and there’s an immediate need…you call us, and we bring this aircraft, and we can bring three tractor-trailers worth in 20 minutes.”

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