They’ll be on the island for 30 days.
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana is sending hundreds of its National Guard troops and emergency response officials to Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands to help with recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria.
In Puerto Rico, 167 members of a Louisiana Army National Guard engineer company are helping with water infrastructure repairs. Another group of 163 military police officers will assist with security. They’ll be on the island for 30 days.
Other Louisiana emergency responders will be working on housing plans for displaced citizens in Puerto Rico.
In the U. S. Virgin Islands, a small group of National Guard and state homeland security staff will assist with recovery efforts for two weeks.
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office Thursday announced the emergency responders’ deployment, which is done through a state-to-state compact established in 1996.
