Local college student helps with hurricane relief

Georgia Military College Warner Robins student Malcolm Lemons was part of a deployment of 1,000 troops in response to Hurricane Matthew.

Lemons is part of the Army National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade combat team in Macon.

A sophomore at GMC, Lemons, age 25, is studying mathematics. His original plan was to become a math teacher, but he fell in love with the Army lifestyle and wants to become an active duty officer once he graduates.

The troops were deployed as part of the relief efforts from Hurricane Matthew, which hit the coast of Georgia in early October.

“We helped with downed power lines and trees, passed out food, helped with traffic,” said Lemons, whose job in the Army is geospatial engineer.

The troops were originally stationed in Statesboro, but relocated to Brunswick and operated out of that area, he said.

Although there were a lot of downed trees, Lemons said it wasn’t nearly as bad as other hurricanes.

“It wasn’t as bad a Katrina,” he said.

According to the Office of Commissioner of Insurance for Georgia, Hurricane Matthew will cost insurance companies $90 million after 30,000 claims, as of Oct. 20.

This was the first natural disaster that Lemons has responded to during his three years with the military.

His favorite part of the relief effort was the amount of community support they received.

“It was a big team effort. We got to see the community come out and thank us,” said Lemons, a 2010 graduate of Howard High School in Macon.

The troops were there for six days. They spent time working with local law enforcement and state troopers.

“It all went smooth. That was the main thing,” Lemons said about the disaster relief efforts.

This story was originally published October 23, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Local college student helps with hurricane relief."