VANDALIA, Ohio — Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm, is set to make landfall near the Texas- Louisiana border overnight.
The storm is expected to bring 20-foot storm surge that forecasters said would be "unsurvivable” and capable of sinking entire communities.
In response, Ohio Task Force 1 is sending crews to help with the impending damage. The Force is one of 28 Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams that function within the National US&R Response System managed by FEMA, according to their Facebook Page.
A team of more than 80 members will depart from the warehouse in Vandalia, Ohio on Wednesday at 9 p.m. heading to College Station, Texas for staging.
A Category 4 hurricane can cause damage so catastrophic that power outages may last for months in places, and wide areas could be uninhabitable for weeks or months. The threat of such devastation posed a new disaster-relief challenge for a government already straining to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
