VANDALIA, Ohio — An Ohio search and rescue team has arrived Kentucky to help with search and rescue efforts after a deadly tornado outbreak.
Ohio Task Force 1, based out of Vandalia near Dayton, said 45 of its members, comprised of search specialists and canine search teams, were activated on Sunday.
Those members arrived in western Kentucky Monday morning and are now preparing for their first assignment, according to an update on the team's Facebook page.
“I don't have a lot of details," Phil Sinewe, the spokesperson for Ohio Task Force 1, said Sunday. "Indiana Task Force 1 is there at this candle factory, doing an extensive search there. There's a possibility that we're going to join them there. But there is also plenty of other damage on that side of the state that we could be going to multiple locations," he said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear initially warned Sunday that the state’s overall death toll from the tornadoes that hit the state Friday night could exceed 100. As of Monday morning, search crews confirmed 64 Kentuckians have died.
"Undoubtedly, there will be more," Beshear said during a briefing Monday morning. "We believe it will certainly be above 70, maybe even 80..."
Sinewe says crews brought the unit’s entire cache of equipment, which includes cutting and breaking tools, search tools, listening devices and supplies for the team to eat and drink.
Ohio Task Force 1 is designed to stay deployed for 14 days, although an exact timeline of when they could come back has not been determined.
You can watch Monday's update from Gov. Beshear in the player below: