SCNG provides flood relief, delivers sandbags to county DOT

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brad Mincey | South Carolina National Guardsman from the 1052th Transportation Company cover a truckload of sandbags preparing to head out to one of several locations in South Carolina at the Wateree Correctional Facility, Oct. 3, 2015, to prevent flooding in low-lying areas in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin. The National Guardsmen transported the sandbags after the inmates filled them and then delivered the completed sandbags to one of the drop-off points in Chester, Columbia, Greenville, Florence and Clinton. Soldiers from the S.C. National Guard train throughout the year in preparation for these types of natural events and are always at the ready when the Governor calls to assist in emergency response or disaster clean up. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo by Sgt. Brad Mincey/Released)  

REMBERT, SC, UNITED STATES

10.03.2015

Story by Sgt. Brad Mincey 

South Carolina National Guard

REMBERT, S.C. – As Hurricane Joaquin, coupled with a rainy low pressure system, brought torrential rain, high winds and flash flood warnings to South Carolina, the S.C. National Guard answered the call and headed out to support local authorities and provide relief to the state’s citizens.

Soldiers from the 1050th Transportation Battalion moved out to the Wateree River Correctional Institution, where inmates spent the weekend filling and loading sandbags onto pallets ready to transport throughout the state.

“We are loading and distributing sandbags throughout the state to different locations for the Department of Transportation,” said Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Smith, Highway Operations NCO for the 1050th Transportation Battalion. “With all the rainfall we’ve been getting, these sandbags will go on highways and bridges to ensure that the highway infrastructure stays intact. The process will probably wrap up Sunday night or Monday morning.”

There were nearly 14,000 sandbags loaded up and distributed to Chester, Greenville, Columbia and Clinton. Each of the 915A5 Line-Haul Tractor Trucks took between 1,500 to 2,500 sandbags to the various locations to be used to prevent flooding in low-lying areas.

Although Soldiers prefer that these natural events didn’t occur, this is the type of mission Guardsmen train for throughout the year as Soldiers often conduct annual training preparing for events such as catastrophic weather.

“I like being able to help the people of South Carolina because I know they need my help,” said Spc. Joshua Monk, 1052nd Transportation Company. “We train and prepare for this throughout the year. ”

Monk, like many others in the South Carolina National Guard, brings the skills he has learned on his civilian job to the tasks and missions of the Guard and state. He drives forklifts as part of his job and is able to use these skills today to quickly and efficiently load pallets onto the transportation company’s trucks.

“I wish we would be called more often to assist the state in these emergencies,” said Monk, “because we have the vehicles and the training to handle it.”

The South Carolina National Guard is frequently called upon to provide support to local and state authorities before, during and after natural disasters. Guardsmen also regularly train on providing clean drinking water, search and rescue, vehicle extraction and assisting local and state authorities cleaning up in the aftermath of a storm, similar to the rain and flooding which hit the Palmetto State over the weekend.

• Date Taken: 10.03.2015
• Date Posted: 10.04.2015 11:08
• Story ID: 178021
• Location: REMBERT, SC, US