NEW YORK CITY -- New Army National Guard Soldiers Pfc. Joel Hernandez (left) and Cpl. Kevin Munoz (background, center) direct cars away from the Lexington Avenue Armory here on Aug. 27 to keep the area accessible for emergency and military traffic to the armory. Both Soldiers are from the Bronx and belong to the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry.

The troops are just some of the nearly 2,000 Soldiers and airmen New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mobilized in response to the expected landfall of Hurricane Irene, which has already caused deaths and destruction in other states.

Soldiers and Airmen deployed to Long Island, New York City, and the Hudson Valley to assist with traffic control on bridges and tunnels, sandbagging operations at the World Trade Center site, evacuation shelter operations in New York City, the construction of barriers for railway yards and train tunnels, and other hurricane emergency efforts.

Soldiers and other New York military forces who were staged at the Lexington Avenue Armory on Aug. 27 have been posted at New York City shelters to assist the American Red Cross and emergency personnel with potential storm victims.

Other troops staged at the armory used the time to catch up on sleep in order to be ready for other possible missions.

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