SALISBURY, N.C. — Thousands of volunteers and first responders have descended on North Carolina, working to render aid and deliver supplies to those left stranded or with nowhere to go. Alongside those efforts are troops from National Guards across the country, including Minnesota.
"There was no unpacking, we just grabbed our bags, duffel bags we had and then just got after it," 1st Lieutenant Jake Braam of the Minnesota National Guard said.
Braam is one of 11 personnel and two CH-47 Chinooks from Minnesota in North Carolina to help. Those crews spent two days flying to North Carolina, arriving Sunday.
"Yesterday we did 9,000 pounds of water carriers, so we had three big pallets of water, additional pallets of supplies and blankets and cold weather gear for some civilians," Braam said.
That first mission involved flying to Hickory, North Carolina, before flying to Asheville. There, Braam said they saw airplane hangars bent over from the force of Hurricane Helene.
"You could tell the wind damage for sure is there," he said.
From there, Braam said they flew to the tops of mountains south of Asheville, delivering those supplies to those stranded.
"We did land into a tighter landing zone, where it was a bunch of tall trees surrounding us," he said. "Survival equipment for people who are in those remote areas."
Thousands of pounds more are ready to head to the mountains as well.
"This is what the Minnesota National Guard does, this is why we sign up," Braam said.
While Braam said they don't know any of the people they're helping, it doesn't matter — they're neighbors all the same.
"They're neighbors of ours, essentially," he said. "I mean, every state in the country is a neighbor of ours, so we're just happy to help out a neighbor whenever we can."
Crews have already completed multiple missions as of Monday evening, with more scheduled for the rest of this week.
The Minnesota National Guard aren't the only ones in North Carolina. Emergency managers from St. Louis County are in North Carolina as well.
Crews from Anoka and Carlton counties, as well as Minneapolis and the state's homeland security and emergency management division, are in South Carolina.