WEBVTT 00:01.379 --> 00:03.546 So this is a very unique response . We 00:03.546 --> 00:05.500 have the entire Alaska organized 00:05.500 --> 00:08.659 militia that have responded eagerly and 00:08.659 --> 00:11.210 willingly to this response . We have 00:11.390 --> 00:13.659 the Alaska National Guard , which is 00:13.659 --> 00:16.020 Army and Air National Guard , the 00:16.020 --> 00:18.076 Alaska State Defense Force , and the 00:18.076 --> 00:20.131 Alaska naval militia , and this is a 00:20.131 --> 00:21.909 combined effort from the entire 00:21.909 --> 00:24.459 organization . We have over 100 people . 00:24.534 --> 00:26.590 That have responded and activated to 00:26.590 --> 00:28.764 this response out into the community 00:28.764 --> 00:30.875 and we have several 100 more that are 00:31.075 --> 00:33.186 behind the scenes doing hard work all 00:33.186 --> 00:35.408 the way down to the smallest unit level 00:35.408 --> 00:37.464 on the army and the air guard side , 00:37.464 --> 00:39.575 getting people on state active duty . 00:39.575 --> 00:41.519 Our jock joint operation center is 00:41.519 --> 00:43.845 fully stood up and it is all hands on 00:43.845 --> 00:46.044 deck . Everybody is supporting and 00:46.044 --> 00:48.155 trying to help Alaskans in their time 00:48.155 --> 00:52.110 of need . So far we have 00:52.110 --> 00:55.389 evacuated 283 00:55.389 --> 00:57.540 displaced Alaskans from those two 00:57.540 --> 01:00.200 villages using our Alaska Army Guard 01:00.200 --> 01:04.190 helicopters . We have 4 Army Black Hawk 01:04.190 --> 01:06.910 helicopters and 1 Army Chinook 01:06.910 --> 01:09.077 helicopter that has been helping bring 01:09.077 --> 01:11.188 people out of these villages who have 01:11.188 --> 01:13.077 lost their homes and all of their 01:13.077 --> 01:15.299 belongings and bringing them to shelter 01:15.299 --> 01:18.319 at Bethel . This morning we had another 01:18.319 --> 01:20.849 210 displaced Alaskans that we were 01:20.849 --> 01:23.279 able to evacuate back to Jay Bear , 01:23.290 --> 01:26.629 Alaska . We have a couple more flights 01:26.629 --> 01:29.989 that we have planned . C-17 is loading 01:29.989 --> 01:32.156 up passengers as we speak and bringing 01:32.156 --> 01:34.669 them back to back to Anchorage , and we 01:34.669 --> 01:36.725 have more flights that are scheduled 01:36.725 --> 01:40.540 tomorrow and the next day . In Bethel , 01:40.629 --> 01:42.518 there are so many people that are 01:42.518 --> 01:45.870 without homes that are being brought 01:45.870 --> 01:48.037 into the community without anywhere to 01:48.037 --> 01:50.949 stay , so our Army guard armory is 01:50.949 --> 01:53.989 sheltering up to 150 people , providing 01:53.989 --> 01:56.510 shelter , food , and bathrooms . 01:58.949 --> 02:02.349 All of our Alaska Guard members and 02:02.349 --> 02:04.349 naval militia members and our state 02:04.349 --> 02:06.460 defense force , these are people that 02:06.460 --> 02:08.516 are from the communities . They have 02:08.516 --> 02:10.682 friends in the communities . They have 02:10.682 --> 02:12.905 family , they have childhood memories , 02:12.905 --> 02:15.016 and a lot of their memories are going 02:15.016 --> 02:17.182 to be a memory now . They're all there 02:17.182 --> 02:19.127 helping and doing what they can to 02:19.127 --> 02:21.429 support . Some of the supplies that the 02:21.429 --> 02:23.151 Alaska National Guard has been 02:23.151 --> 02:25.207 delivering to these communities have 02:25.207 --> 02:28.110 been food , water , fuel . We've been 02:28.110 --> 02:31.110 also transporting maintenance to help 02:31.110 --> 02:33.221 get some of the generators back going 02:33.221 --> 02:35.332 again . These communities are without 02:35.332 --> 02:37.277 power and they are very limited on 02:37.277 --> 02:39.443 their food . Some of these communities 02:39.443 --> 02:41.610 have less than 72 hours' worth of food 02:41.610 --> 02:43.832 and 1 to 2 days' worth of fuel to power 02:43.832 --> 02:46.830 the generators . We've also been 02:46.830 --> 02:50.610 sending . tents , Arctic tents we have 02:50.610 --> 02:52.960 out in Bethel for any additional 02:52.960 --> 02:55.182 support , but however , we're using our 02:55.182 --> 02:56.960 armory space for all sheltering 02:56.960 --> 03:00.869 operations . So our 03:00.869 --> 03:02.980 goal is to get everybody who wants to 03:02.980 --> 03:06.509 be evacuated back to Anchorage VSC-17 . 03:06.839 --> 03:08.783 We have people who want to stay in 03:08.783 --> 03:10.839 Bethel and go to other communities , 03:10.839 --> 03:13.006 and they believe that the corporations 03:13.006 --> 03:15.228 are helping them get to the places that 03:15.228 --> 03:17.395 they want to be . However , the Alaska 03:17.395 --> 03:16.990 National Guard and the organized 03:16.990 --> 03:18.990 militia is doing what we can to get 03:18.990 --> 03:20.990 everybody into Anchorage if if they 03:20.990 --> 03:23.815 choose to do so . For those that are in 03:23.815 --> 03:25.426 Bethel who are unable to get 03:25.426 --> 03:28.054 transported out via C-17 , we have 03:28.054 --> 03:29.998 shelter operations stood up at the 03:29.998 --> 03:32.221 armory , and we can shelter up to about 03:32.221 --> 03:34.815 150 , and we're also augmenting the 03:34.815 --> 03:38.425 local churches as well with food 03:38.425 --> 03:40.934 distribution and just overall help in 03:40.934 --> 03:43.156 some of the churches that some of these 03:43.156 --> 03:47.130 people are sheltering in . We're 03:47.130 --> 03:48.797 going to continue the shelter 03:48.797 --> 03:52.429 operations in Bethel until all Alaskans 03:53.169 --> 03:55.330 no longer need shelter support . We 03:55.330 --> 03:57.552 also plan to continue to stay in Bethel 03:57.552 --> 03:59.663 and be there for the state's needs at 03:59.663 --> 04:01.663 the state's request to help rebuild 04:01.663 --> 04:03.997 these communities in their time of need . 04:05.809 --> 04:08.020 This is not a mandatory evacuation , 04:08.119 --> 04:10.341 but we are helping anybody who needs to 04:10.341 --> 04:12.508 get out of the small communities using 04:12.508 --> 04:14.508 our army guard helicopters to bring 04:14.508 --> 04:16.730 them to Bethel . And then from Bethel , 04:16.730 --> 04:18.952 anybody who is willing to get on a C-17 04:18.952 --> 04:21.175 who wants to be evacuated , we're going 04:21.175 --> 04:23.399 to help them get back to conditions in 04:23.399 --> 04:25.455 Anchorage . Those who are willing to 04:25.455 --> 04:27.399 stay behind or who want to stay in 04:27.399 --> 04:29.566 their communities , we support that as 04:29.566 --> 04:31.677 well , and we're doing what we can to 04:31.677 --> 04:33.899 help shelter them and transport them to 04:33.899 --> 04:36.200 where they need to be . So future 04:36.200 --> 04:38.200 evacuations are going to be at the 04:38.200 --> 04:40.640 request of the incident commander , so 04:40.640 --> 04:43.029 we're working together with the state 04:43.239 --> 04:45.059 on a prioritized list of those 04:45.059 --> 04:47.337 communities that need the most support . 04:47.540 --> 04:49.318 And so we are going to continue 04:49.318 --> 04:51.540 operations as long as we need to to get 04:51.540 --> 04:55.200 people to safety . We , like I said 04:55.200 --> 04:57.279 earlier , we have C-17s that are 04:57.279 --> 04:59.390 scheduled through the weekend to help 04:59.390 --> 05:00.390 with this evacuation .