The National Guard announced that as of 5pm Monday, 5,500 National Guard members had been activated to help with monster storm Sandy.
PHILADELPHIA - The Pennsylvania National Guard has activated 750 soldiers and expects to have a total of 1,600 placed on active duty to deal with damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Guard spokesman Staff Sgt. Matthew Jones said 50 guardsmen had already been on duty since Friday and 800 more based in Pittsburgh and Scranton expect to be activated by noon Monday.
Forecasters predict winds up to 75 mph and as much as 10 inches of rain to hit parts of Pennsylvania as Sandy slams into the mid-Atlantic.
State government is closed for the day, and residents are being urged to stay home. All flights out of Philadelphia International Airport are canceled Monday, and mass transit is shut down.
The Red Cross is opening shelters across southeastern and central Pennsylvania for residents fleeing their homes.
New York: ALBANY, N.Y. - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling up an additional 1,000 National Guard troops, doubling the superstorm force he called up Sunday.
Cuomo says the troops will be used to prepare for a possible historic storm surge and to contend with widespread damage and power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Cuomo called up 1,000 National Guard troops Sunday.
He says the "cruel irony" is that the state is better prepared now because of last year's tropical storms.
The Army Corps of Engineers says the state is very well prepared.
Cuomo also says 4,000 more utility workers are in New York.
Virginia: RICHMOND, Va. - About 630 members of the Virginia National Guard are getting ready to respond across the state to help with recovery operations related to Hurricane Sandy.
Officials say the Virginia Army Guard and Virginia Defense Force staged more than 500 people on Saturday in the Eastern Shore, Hampton Roads, as well as central and northern Virginia. Additional personnel began staging on Sunday and Monday in the areas around Woodstock, Winchester and Leesburg. Others have been alerted for possible duty.
Guard personnel also are on duty in Sandston at the Guard's Joint Operations Center, Fort Pickett and the Virginia Emergency Operations Center.
Those in the field are capable of performing high water transport, debris cleanup and other patrols.
In all members were activated from: CT, DE, MA, MD, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI and VA to help with Sandy.
Stay with Digtriad for updates.
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