...An angry autumn

National Guard, Oct 1998

More than 7,000 National Guardsmen from nine states and territories responded to the devastation of Hurricane Georges, the violent storm that ripped through the Caribbean before slamming into the Gulf States last month.

Guardsmen rescued hundreds of people trapped by flash floods and storm surges, cleared debris, directed traffic, distributed food and water, turned armories into shelters, and patrolled evacuated areas.

In Alabama, where some areas got up to 40 inches of rain in 48 hours, Guardsmen waded through chest-deep water to carry children and lead adults from a flooded housing project in Mobile.

Puerto Rico Guardsmen augmented local enforcement and distributed water and ice to those without electricity and helped provide food to nearly 1,000 residents rendered homeless.

In Florida, rescuers in Humvees braved torrential rains and high winds to save 200 panhandle homeowners from rising waters.

"They would have been in serious trouble if the National Guard and the fire department hadn't been able to go in and get them," said David Greenberg of the state's emergency management division.

Florida also had some Guard help from other states: New York, Georgia and North Carolina, which evacuated people from two hospitals in the Florida Keys before the hurricane arrived.

Hundreds of Louisiana and Mississippi Guardsmen also responded to the hurricane, assisting local authorities in their own states