DAYTON, Ohio — As Florida braces for Hurricane Idalia, which is expected to make landfall as a dangerous Category 3 storm on Wednesday, Ohio Task Force 1 is joining the effort to help.
"Being down there and being positioned for the storm, that gives us time to prepare all of our equipment, make sure we're really ready to jump when everything gets going," Task Force 1 Public Information Officer Chris O'Connor said.
The organization deployed a team from Dayton at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday as they head south in preparation for the storm. Ohio Task Force 1 says this group includes 47 specially trained personnel, two canines and 60 tons of equipment.
"We have a wide array of equipment to work with, water emergencies we have boats, whether its structural collapse or confined space rescues or search and rescues, everything in between," O'Connor told 3News, "so it makes that team able to move about, makes them very agile."
Idalia strengthened to hurricane status early Tuesday morning as the National Hurricane Center warns of potential life-threatening conditions for those within the storm's path.
This comes just 48 hours after three members of Ohio Task Force 1 and their canines returned from 11 days on Maui helping to recover bodies following the Hawaii wildfires. Those members are not part of this deployment, which will see the force meet up with other task forces from across the country.
"This isn't the first time we've been to Florida, and I'm sure it won't be the last," O'Connor said. "Certainly we know folks in other task forces and we've worked inside the system, so when we get down there, yeah, we know each other. Yeah, we know local departments and folks in Florida."
When Ohio Task Force 1 deploys, they stay until they are no longer needed. A very rough estimate would be two to three weeks.
You can watch video of Ohio Task Force 1's departure in the Facebook post below…
This comes after members of Ohio Task Force 1 returned home from Hawaii on Sunday after assisting those impacted by the deadly Maui wildfires in Lahaina.
Ohio Task Force 1, which is based in Dayton, is one of the nation's 28 urban search and rescue teams.