If Hurricane Milton is about to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast, crews from the Bay Area are already being deployed before the storm makes landfall.
Two search and rescue forces are now en route to the Gulf. One of them has experience there, most recently with Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“So depending on what the need is,” Menlo Park Fire Marshal Jon Johnston explained. “Whether it’s heavy rescue, water rescue, search dogs and doctors, engineers.”
Menlo Park Fire Marshal Jon Johnston talks about the deployment of California Task Force 3, a team of 46 different specialists, which is now on its way to Florida.
“A number of semi-finals, with all our equipment, which is about £60,000 of equipment that has to be self-sufficient for 21 days, are coming up. And yesterday the other half of the team fled from SFO,” says Johnston. said.
From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, name just about any major American disaster and this team was there.
Now Task Force 3 heads to Florida, where they have been before, this time in anticipation of a potentially historic storm.
“You always look at what those situations are and that’s where we hope people follow directions, whether it’s evacuation and preparation,” Johnston said.
“Yes, you wonder what it’s going to look like,” he added. “But I’m just asking everyone that you’re here in the Bay Area, prepared and paramount and key. So that we can do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. And so if you can, this is always a reminder to have that emergency water, that emergency food, to have emergency power so that you can be self-sufficient.”
Where exactly does this team end up and what is required of them? They don’t know now, and they won’t for a while.
It will be an hour-by-hour wait as the storm arrives before they receive instructions.
From Tuesday evening Milton strengthened into a Category 5 storm. Milton is expected to make landfall late Wednesday evening as a Category 3 hurricane.
