VIRGN ISLANDS, - With Hurricane Maria following a similar path as Hurricane Irma, the Virgin Islands National Guard is once again preparing for another Category 5 storm; this one, coming at St. Croix instead of St. Thomas and St. John.
The Joint Operations Center personnel have spent the last 48 hours preparing for the second natural disaster in two weeks.
"We spent the last 48 hours coming up with a good bed-down plan for VING forces and any EMAC [Emergency Management Assistance Compact] forces still on the ground," said Maj. Ryan Barry, acting JOC battle captain for the night shift.
"We are adapting a forward posture to ensure that the people of the Virgin Islands are taken care of."
Barry spoke about the amount of responsibility to account for personnel this time around because of increased personnel at the Estate Bethlehem Military Compound.
"We also have an increased amount of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and other civil agencies personnel bedding down with us," he said.
"We also are getting accountability of everybody, make sure we know where they're sleeping, how they're posturing and taking care of them, so right after the disaster, we can push into the community and start relief efforts."
Hurricane Maria is scheduled to affect the territory early Wednesday.
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