North Carolina National Guard soldiers return home from Puerto Rico

The 105th Engineer Battalion arrived around 4:45 p.m. at the North Carolina Guard Raeford Armory. At least 143 National Guard soldiers were dispatched to Puerto Rico in September when local officials requested help through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Puerto Rico is still reeling from the damage left by Hurricane Maria, which roared ashore in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 as a Category 4 storm with sustained maximum winds of 155 mph. Over 20 inches of rain fell in many areas and power was knocked out to the entire island. Several weeks later, many residents still report being without power and some residents remain without permanent housing.

The North Carolina National Guardsmen joined with 750 soldiers from South Carolina, Louisiana and New York Army National Guards to help the island recover from the storm.

According to authorities, U.S. National Guardsmen were active mostly in Southern Puerto Rico, and worked to clear debris from roads and making hasty road repairs to allow aid to reach areas cut off from the storm as well restoring infrastructure.

While in Puerto Rico, the team performed 28 engineer assessments of critical infrastructure, 52 route clearing and debris hauling missions, 13 large scale supply distribution operations and drove their trucks and equipment a total of 21,000 miles, according to federal officials.