National Guard Plans Relief Efforts as Hurricane Maria Slams Puerto Rico

Image: Puerto Rico Army National Guard members work on clearing Highway 511 from Ponce to Jayuya in Puerto Rico, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Sept. 11, 2017. Today, Hurricane Maria is battering the hard-hit island territory. Puerto Rico Army National Guard photo by Spc. Agustin Montanez

defense.gov - Army Sgt. Juanita Philip and Sgt. 1st Class Jessica Barnett - September 20th 2017

National Guard troops and members of federal agencies throughout the Caribbean region are hunkering down and making disaster relief preparations as Hurricane Maria made landfall today in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm, with winds of 150 mph, weather officials said.

With Maria following a similar path as Hurricane Irma, the U.S. Virgin Islands National Guard is once again preparing for another massive storm; this one, coming at St. Croix instead of St. Thomas and St. John.

Joint operations center personnel have spent the last 48 hours preparing for the second natural disaster in two weeks.

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