Gov. Tate Reeves has activated Mississippi National Guard to assist with hurricane relief efforts in Florida.
“Mississippi stands ready to assist Florida as they brace for Hurricane Milton,” Reeves said. “Our state is no stranger to hurricanes, and we’ll always be grateful for the assistance we’ve received in the past from people across the country. It’s only right that we now help our fellow Americans in their time of need. I know the Mississippi National Guard will do an excellent job assisting Floridians.”
22 members of the Mississippi National Guard’s 185th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade deployed from Jackson and Meridian to Tallahassee on Wednesday in preparation for recovery operations in the aftermath of the now-forecasted Category 3 storm. Soldiers, aviators, and crewmen, along with three helicopters, will help with route clearance, shelter management, supply distribution, and command and control.
Col. Jeremy Parker, director of military support for the Mississippi National Guard, further explained the diverse and dual-hatted mission and how service members are ready to help Floridians.
“The Blackhawks are capable of life-saving research and rescue missions and the Chinook is capable of emergency response personnel and equipment into an isolated area and the evacuation of stranded citizens,” Parker said. “The Mississippi National Guard aviation team will serve as part of Florida’s Aviation Task Force and will fly into impacted areas as soon as weather conditions permit.”
The Mississippi National Guard responded to a similar mission following Hurricane Ian in 2022, creating an “air bridge” for the movement of people and critical cargo in Sanibel Island, Fla.
Hurricane Milton – which previously reached as high as a Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico – is expected to make landfall around Florida’s Tampa Bay area late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. A handful of Mississippi-based utility companies have also mobilized eastward to help Floridians restore power after the storm moves through.
