Mainstreet Daily News
Florida Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Task Forces 1 and 2 will deploy to Mississippi, and USAR Task Force 4 along with 50 Florida National Guardsmen will aid in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida swept through the two states on Sunday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the same day that these units would deploy to the impacted areas.
“The state of Florida stands with both our Gulf Coast neighbors as they face the devastation left by Hurricane Ida,” DeSantis said in a press release. “I am proud that we are able to deploy aid to both Mississippi and Louisiana during their time of need, just as others help Florida when disaster strikes here.”
Hurricane Ida knocked out power to all of New Orleans and has caused one death so far.
On top of the USAR and National Guard units, industry partners like Florida Power, Duke Energy and Tampa Electric Company sent utility restoration personnel and equipment to support Louisiana’s crews.
Currently, more than 1,100 utility restoration personnel from Florida are supporting the restoration process. Officials say crews may not be able to fully restore power for up to three weeks.
The Florida State University Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) team has also left to help support damage assessment.
Two Incident Management Teams from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) are on standby to deploy. These teams are made up of state and local experienced emergency management professionals.
“In Florida, we know how disastrous a Category 4 hurricane can be,” Kevin Guthrie, FDEM director, said in a press release. “As our partners in Louisiana and Mississippi continue to respond to Ida and begin their initial recovery process, the Division stands ready to deploy requested resources to assist.”