The Connecticut National Guard have been tapped to help in storm Helene recovery efforts.
Soldiers are on their way to North Carolina in a CH-47 helicopter. The National Guard says they'll be there for one week.
“Moving personnel around disaster area, if the need arises, as well as moving around commodities like food water supplies things of that nature,” said Major Michael Wilcoxson of the Connecticut National Guard.
Wilcoxson says the last time they went on a mission like this was in 2018 to help out with Hurricane Florence recovery efforts.
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“It doesn’t just stop in Connecticut. It extends to all 50 states. Our borders don’t keep us here in our communities, we’re here to help any community in the United States,” said Wilcoxson.
As they head towards the disaster area, multiple flights filled with people leaving the disaster area touched down at Bradley International Airport Friday.
"The wind. The wind was intense,” said Louis Nocero, of East Hampton. He says he and his wife Diane experienced some of the storm last night but made it to Hartford safely from Orlando.
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"We have a lot of friends affected by Hurricane Debby, which just hit and are still not close to recovering from that,” said Chris James, of the Tampa area. He says he and his family are visiting Connecticut for a trip.
He says they're grateful to have left unscathed and said they have friends who have five feet of water in their homes from Helene.
"In some ways we feel a little bit lucky, in other ways we feel bad because our families are there,” said James.
Today is also the 39-year anniversary of when Hurricane Gloria devastated Connecticut.
Teresa Rezendes Atkinson grew up in Stonington and remembers Gloria and the impact well.
All these years later, she found herself hunkering down during another hurricane in her current home of Macon, Georgia.
"There's a lot of cleanup out here, a lot of people without power,” said Rezendes Atkinson.
“This is where we have to bunker in, you know, and that one was a rough one all the way from Florida,” she said.
She says it's a blessing they didn't sustain any substantial damage.
