St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - A medical evacuation team from the Minnesota National Guard is expected to depart soon for Puerto Rico.

Governor Mark Dayton today issued an executive order directing the team to assist with the hurricane response and relief efforts in the U.S. Territory. The order authorizes a team from Minnesota to deploy to Puerto Rico in order to relieve medical crews that have been working on rescue and recovery missions on the devastated island.

The deployment covers 13 Minnesota National Guard members and two UH-60 Medevac helicopters. They are expected to spend about a week in Puerto Rico before returning the Minnesota.

Including this mission, 56 Minnesota National Guard members have been assigned to the hurricane response in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and over $1 million in medical supplies from the National Guard medical supply warehouse at Camp Ripley have been shipped to Texas, Florida, and the U.S. Territories in the Caribbean to assist in the disaster relief efforts.

A statement issued by Governor Dayton notes there are about 13,000 Puerto Rican people living in Minnesota and many of them have family, friends, or other loved ones impacted by the deadly storm.

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