Nebraska National Guard's hurricane relief mission to Florida called off

Gov. Jim Pillen canceled a planned deployment of 150 Nebraska National Guard troops to Florida for post-hurricane relief after authorities there said they weren't needed.

The Nebraska soldiers and airmen had volunteered for duty last week and left Friday in a convoy to Camp Blanding, Florida, to assist authorities there cleaning up after Hurricane Milton struck the state last week.

But on Saturday morning, officials at the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency received word that Florida officials had conducted a post-storm reassessment and determined they were no longer needed.

So the Nebraska Guard convoy, which had gotten as far as Atlanta, turned around and came home. The troops arrived in Lincoln Sunday night and were discharged from duty early Monday, said Kevin Hynes, a Nebraska National Guard spokesman.

After reaching Category 5 strength over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Milton slammed into the west coast of Florida near Sarasota late last Wednesday and barreled across the Florida peninsula the following day. Damage estimates total at least $30 billion.

; twitter.com/Steve Liewer