600 guardsmen fanning out across W.Va. Thursday - WVVA TV Bluefield Beckley WV News, Weather and Sports

600 guardsmen fanning out across W.Va. Thursday

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The West Virginia National Guard will have 600 soldiers on the ground by the end of Thursday, doing welfare checks, installing generators, and delivering food and water.

Adjutant Gen. James Hoyer says that's up from about 230 earlier this week.

Guardsmen are going door to door with firefighters, police, church groups and others to reach people who are still awaiting help six days after violent, devastating storms.

Hoyer has been in the guard for 31 years and says he's never seen a statewide disaster of this magnitude. It's affected 53 of 55 counties, leaving some 100 percent powerless.

He says the recovery has been monumental, and no one should compare it to response failures after Hurricane Katrina.

He says West Virginia officials are on top of the situation.

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