National Guard sets up home base at UCF’s campus
University of Central Florida’s Spectrum Stadium is playing host to the National Guard this week, serving as a launching point for National Guardsmen helping with Hurricane Irma recovery efforts in the region.
More than 700 National Guardsmen planned to stay at the football stadium Tuesday night, with a line of trucks and other equipment parked in lots usually filled with tailgaters.
The Knights football team had planned to host Georgia Tech this Saturday, but the game has been canceled because of the National Guard’s presence.
Before the storm hit, UCF leaders knew they’d likely provide space for the guard or utility workers because the campus has a lot of room to park trucks and other large equipment, UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said.
The campus had never served before as home base for a recovery effort of this magnitude, he said.
UCF has converted the football stadium locker rooms and field house into dormitories and the concession stands into serving stations for National Guardsmen delivering food and other supplies and rescuing stranded residents.
National Guardsmen started arriving Monday, said Mark Touchton, who was overseeing the operations at UCF.
Close to 200 National Guardsmen were stationed at UCF by Tuesday afternoon, and more than 500 were expected to arrive in the evening.
Touchton said he didn’t have information about the areas where National Guardsmen were working or the number of rescues they’d completed.
UCF President John Hitt stopped by to thank the National Guardsmen on Tuesday afternoon, and football players and coaches were serving dinner.
Beary said most campus buildings had power by Tuesday afternoon. Damage had been minimal, he said, save for a few places where water had leaked under doors or through windows into buildings. UCF is now scheduled to reopen Monday.