MIAMI (WSVN) - As Hurricane Michael makes its way towards Northern Florida, a group of first responders from South Florida is heading to Ocala to help with the rescue and recovery efforts.
Called the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue, the team is responsible for responding to a host of crises, ranging from natural disasters to terrorist attacks.
“At the point that it hits, we’ll come in right after to start assisting any victims in the area,” said City of Miami Assistant Fire Chief Scott Dean.
The group prepared and packed supplies Tuesday morning, with their primary focus being to assist with search and rescue efforts in the water after the storm.
“We have a tremendous amount of assets that are pretty much like a Swiss army knife for any type of rescue that could occur, from heavy rescue equipment to swift water boats that we can put on the water,” said Dean. “Hazmat equipment to communications equipment, we pretty much are self-sufficient, and we don’t like to rely on anybody, so we take everything that we possibly might need for whatever type of rescue that would come our way.”
The team is sponsored by the City of Miami, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is made up of 80 men and women from 30 different fire departments in South Florida.
“We try to pick the most elite team of individuals from each department, so we put out a quality team out the door every time,” Dean said.
The team will go to a staging area in Ocala until the storm has passed when they can begin helping out.
“We really basically wait for our orders,” said Stephanie Palmer of the Coral Springs Fire Department, “and then once those orders come in, we deploy to that area either as a swift water team, as a rescue team. We either go land or water. It all varies on what’s going on in that particular moment.”
In Doral, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Task Force 1 is also preparing to head north. They just returned two days ago from South Carolina after helping with Hurricane Florence relief efforts.
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Michael was a Category 2 storm and is expected to hit the state as a Category 3.
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