NC Guard's 878th and 875th Engineer Company flood relief mission in Hemingway, SC

HEMINGWAY, S.C. - Rushing water from recent historic floods in South Carolina washed out a culvert on the only road in a neighborhood in Hemingway stranding a family in their home.

Williamsburg County Emergency Management called out Soldiers of the North Carolina National Guard deployed to the South Carolina National Guard's McCrady Training Center in Eastover supporting the thousands of SCNG Soldiers on missions across the state, Oct. 15, 2015.

Nearly a dozen NCNG Soldiers of the 878th and 875th Engineer Company with many tons of sand, steady hands, years of Guard training and experience and civilian skills with backhoes, dump trucks and road graders turned a new stream into a newer road.

"It is what we [the Guard] are here for," said Army Staff Sgt. Corey Carson of Mount Airy, North Carolina, a heavy equipment operator with the 875th.

Dump trucks kept a steady supply of sand as Soldiers drug the large culvert pipe into position from the mud of the flooded swamp. Two bulldozers working as a team smoothed the sand level along a path less than 15-feet across.

Bulldozer tracks clawed through the mud as engines roar. The expert eye backed by a couple hundred horsepower drop load after load as the gash across the road is filled and leveled smooth.

Several NCNG leaders keep a close watch as the Soldiers continue mission through the day. They coordinated with headquarters in Eastover tracking their progress.

"The real world mission gives the Soldiers experience and prepares them for the next deployment," said Army 1st Lt. Steven Cochran with the NCNG's 505th Engineer Battalion.

Neighbors watch the Soldiers efforts and wave goodbye as the Soldiers return to base for a night's rest before their final shift at the site the next day.

"You guys [South and North Carolina National Guard] are a blessing, thank you," said Jessica Pugliese of Hemingway.

More than 500 NCNG Soldiers have deployed to South Carolina supplementing the SCNG's continuous flood relief missions since the flood began earlier in October.