BANGOR – Another 44 members of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard left Tuesday from the Bangor Air National Guard Base to assist hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf Coast.

The Lewiston-based Charlie Company follows a group of 84 soldiers from the battalion who left Sunday, headed to Baton Rouge, La., for a month-long deployment to clear roads of debris and possibly provide security, platoon leader 1st Lt. Lisa Sessions said Tuesday morning.

“We’re just going to be trying to make those roads available for the population,” she said. The group, consisting of masons, electricians, plumbers and other construction workers, plans to be housed at a state armory but has brought tents and other equipment as a precaution, she said.

– Jackie Farwell, Bangor Daily News