JACKSONVILLE, North Carolina — Camp Lejeune faced criticism from some journalists for not ordering a mandatory evacuation before Hurricane Florence.
But what then looked like a Category 4 hurricane later became a tropical storm, and US Marines at Camp Lejeune ended up assisting with search and rescue missions around the installation.
And while on the ground covering the storm in North Carolina, which has killed more than a dozen people and caused catastrophic flooding and damage, I had a chance to embed with some Marines as they went on a search and rescue operation.
Here's what happened.
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I met up with the Marines at an emergency operations center in Jacksonville, and quickly jumped in the back of one of their medium tactical vehicle replacements, or seven-ton trucks, before the convoy took off.
The Marines were assisting the disaster relief operations known as Joint Task Force 60, and their main mission here was to drive about five miles north to Richlands and pick up 30 residents stranded at a fire station.
The creek outside of Richlands had completely flooded, making the town accessible only to the seven-ton trucks. The video below shows the massive flooding surrounding the town.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1041114463158513664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
US Marines riding in 7-ton trucks to grab 30 Richlands, NC residents who had to be rescued from their homes flooded by Tropical Storm Florence pic.twitter.com/ZQ3pEgWe2i
And the flooding was incredibly deep in many spots.
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