National Guard soldiers from eastern Oklahoma called up to help with hurricane relief efforts

Governor Brad Henry says there will be about 3,500 Oklahoma National Guard troops and emergency workers from the Sooner state in the affected states by this weekend. <br/><br/>There are already about

Thursday, September 1st 2005, 9:33 am

By: News On 6

Governor Brad Henry says there will be about 3,500 Oklahoma National Guard troops and emergency workers from the Sooner state in the affected states by this weekend.

There are already about 400 Oklahoma Guard members in the hurricane damaged area and should be about 2,000 more by early next week.

They'll be helping in evacuation, search and rescue and security in the hurricane-ravaged area. Some of those members are already on their way, while others will be leaving in a few days.

Lt Mike Thompson in Sand Springs: "It's pretty tragic down there and the people there, people from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, they're really emotionally involved, and I think its good idea to bring people in from the outside. That's why Oklahoma is going to answer the call."