DAYTON, Ohio — Ohio is one of many states sent to help in recovery efforts in Kentucky.
45 state residents trained in search and rescue are down there helping right now through Ohio Task Force 1. They are, in part, helping account for the more than 100 missing Kentuckians resulting from the weekend's tornadoes.
"There are going to be people standing out in front yards saying, 'What do we do now?'" Phil Sinewe told 3News. "Our guys are there to kind of start to head them in the right direction."
The crew loaded up in Dayton Sunday, drove through the night and by 8:30 this morning were contributing to wide area searches in places possibly unreached since before the storms.
"This storm was such a wide path that there could easily be clusters of residential structures that nobody's been to yet," Sinewe said.
The group is made up of search and rescue specialists, a medical team that includes doctors, K-9s and handlers and a logistics team. While search and rescue comes first, they're also there to let people know what FEMA resources they can access and trace the full extent of the storm's damage.
"They're actually moving through the area with iPads and they're dropping pins saying this structure is completely destroyed, this one is partially destroyed," Sinewe added.
Their other vital role is offering support to the local first responders, who are likely among those who lost everything.
"Each fireman has his own family, his own home he needs to start dealing with," Sinewe said. "That's one of the challenges we're able to alleviate at least partly by saying, 'Hey chief, we got this section."
As of right now, the team is deployed for 16 days. It could be more, but Sinewe says it will likely be less once all groups sent to help in Kentucky arrive.