FEMA uses 167th Airlift Wing as staging area for storm relief

Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Emily Beightol-Deyerle | The 167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard, is based in Martinsburg W.Va., Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. The 167th AW is serving as a staging area for disaster relief supplies which will then be transported throughout West Virginia as needed. The West Virginia National Guard has over 200 members aiding in recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy. The storm blanketed the state with heavy snow and rains and also had severe winds that left homes and properties damaged. Guardsmen are involved in numerous aspects of the operations from search and rescue missions to debris removal. (Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Emily Beightol-Deyerle)  

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

11.01.2012

Story by Staff Sgt. Sherree Grebenstein 

167th Airlift Wing, West Virginia Air National Guard

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is using the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 167th Airlift Wing base in Martinsburg as a staging area to push out much needed storm relief supplies to Mountain State residents hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy.

Airmen and soldiers from the West Virginia National Guard are working in tandem to ensure the emergency supplies trucked in from around the country will be distributed to those in need. Operations spun up Thursday morning at the base with approximately three and-a-half million liters of water, 600,000 self-heating emergency meals as well as infant and toddler kits slated to be delivered in the coming days.

“We will maintain 80 to 100 truckloads here at all times,” said Joe D’Angelo, FEMA’s Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) logistics chief for Region III.

D’Angelo said he expects the base to be used as a staging area through at least next week.

Two companies from the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 77th Brigade will be tasked with distributing the needed supplies to Mountain State residents. Citizen soldiers from the 1201st Forward Support Company and Delta 230th FSC will take to the roadways to drop off the supplies.

“We’re going to turn them into ice truckers,” said Master Sgt. Keith Bibb, property book officer for the 77th Brigade.

As of Thursday evening, the 120 citizen soldiers assigned to the mission were awaiting their first marching orders to begin distribution of the supplies.

“We’re loaded, cocked and ready to go,” Bibb said. “We are staged waiting for our mission.

• Date Taken: 11.01.2012
• Date Posted: 11.01.2012 18:23
• Story ID: 97153
• Location: MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, US