Athens-based TN Army National Guard unit helps hurricane victims in US Virgin Islands
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands — This week, members of the Athens, TN-based Tennessee Army National Guard Military Police, 117th Military Police Battalion are working to help hurricane victims in the U.S. Virgin Islands recover.
The Tennessee Army National Guard aviators were also a large part of the hurricane recovery operations on the small U.S. territory.
140 members from both the 117th Battalion and the Cleveland and Oneida's 252nd MP Company are now there, according to the unit. The National Guard MP is responsible for providing security for the supply distribution points on the island.
A Dunlap Police officer is part of that team.
Detective Robert Raber shared pictures with the DPD recently:
Meanwhile, there were fifteen airmen from Memphis who returned home this week from the US Virgin Islands. They provided Aerial Port Operations on St. Croix while processing personnel and cargo. Their other responsibilities included loading and securing aircraft, supervising units, and loading and unloading planes.
The recovery of eastern Caribbean islands hardest hit by recent hurricanes, including US Virgin Islands, Dominica, Barbuda, Turks and Caicos and Anguilla, could cost up to $1 billion, a senior U.N. official said Tuesday.
"It's going to be a large-scale rebuilding effort that will take time," said Stephen O'Malley, the U.N. resident coordinator for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, "and it will be important to do that right."
While President Trump and first lady Melania Trump were in Puerto Rico on Tuesday, they spoke with the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
FEMA and other agencies are assessing the damage that was caused by Hurricane Irma and Maria.
FEMA's essential mission is being able to determine the financial cost of rebuilding the island's infrastructure.
