Photo By Staff Sgt. Brendan Stephens | A Winter Catch Team stops to remove a fallen tree from Highway 64 in Wake County on...... read more read more
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RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina National Guard Soldiers mobilized in the hours before snow and ice started building up on North Carolina roads around the state, Feb. 25, 2015. They staged equipment and stood by to see how this winter storm would play out.
"Our mission is to ensure public safety and also prevent loss of life and property damage," said Maj. Stephen Koontz from North Carolina National Guard's Joint Operations Center.
"To accomplish this, we deploy Winter Catch Teams and Off Road Ambulance Force Packages," said Koontz.
The teams of transportation experts in various military high clearance vehicles patrolled the icy roads searching for people in trouble. The Soldiers cleared fallen trees from the roadways and marked the abandoned cars that lay buried under piles of snow along the roadside.
In total, 96 troops and 39 vehicles were involved in this response from NCNG units all across the state.
By early Thursday morning, the full extent of storm damage became evident and teams flexed up to the northern parts of the state where up to seven inches of snow created hazardous situations.
Spc. Thomas Cartwright a soldier from Fayetteville, North Carolina, who serves in B Company, 1st Bn., 120th Infantry Reg. said, "If anyone does get stranded out here, we'll pick them up and take them to a nice safe location."
Snowplows cleared away the worst of the snow, but icy patches and fallen trees still caused problems for motorists.
Teams continued to patrol the highways and interstates until these emergency conditions subsided. Cartwright's team provided assistance along Interstate Highway 95 and U.S. Highway 64. Guard operations continued until the roadways were deemed safe.
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2015 17:33 |
| Story ID: | 155602 |
| Location: | RALEIGH, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 148 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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