Members of the Canadian Armed Forces touched down at St. John’s airport Sunday evening to begin helping local crews following Friday’s massive blizzard.

On Saturday, when the extent of the massive snowfall became apparent, Premier Dwight Ball contacted federal officials to ask for help from the military.

On Sunday afternoon during a news conference in Winnipeg, federal defence minister Harjit Sajjan announced that between 150-200 troops would be on the ground by Monday morning, with another 50 to 100 soldiers arriving later in the day.

Sajjan also stated that a cormorant helicopter, two Griffin helicopters and Hercules aircraft would be brought in to help with medical emergencies and other situations.

The minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, Bill Blair, said this is a “no cost recovery” situation. Blair said the federal government will do what it can to help and deal with the cost at a later time.