NEW ORLEANS — On Monday, Louisiana Task Force One hit the road. The team includes New Orleans EMS personnel, as well as firefighters from New Orleans, St. Bernard, Hammond, Lafourche, and Kenner.
Kenner Fire Chief Terence Morris said four Kenner firefighters make up the 23-person team.
“We’re sending guys trained in water rescue, structural collapse, trench rescue, different areas of urban search and rescue," Morris said.
The crew will be stationed at the Orlando Convention Center and will be ready to deploy once the storm passes.
“With a rain event like a hurricane, you can expect tornadoes, heavy rain, you may have a lot of flooding, structural collapses, trees that collapse in the house, tornadoes," Morris said. "So, we have to send members that are trained in a lot of different areas."
Morris said another task force team just returned home from helping Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina.
Plus, the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness deployed nearly 100 personnel to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia after Helene, and said that another 77 are being deployed to Florida.
The United Cajun Navy has also been on the ground in Helene's aftermath, and they plan to do the same for Hurricane Milton.
Morris said this task force mission should last 10 days, but they're prepared to send relief if the need warrants it.
"Hopefully it's not significant damage to that area," Morris said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.