Volunteers from the Philadelphia area are traveling south to help victims of Hurricane Helene. NBC10’s Deanna Durante has the details.
A 45-person team, that includes two search dogs and 12 trucks stacked with equipment, is leaving Philadelphia on Thursday morning and heading to North Carolina to be part of the emergency response efforts for Hurricane Helene.
The Philly-based Pa. Task Force One team, headquartered in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia, learned Wednesday afternoon that they were being called in to help support rescue efforts and Task Force Captain Brian Booth said that they are prepared to help out.
'We have a full base of operations in the trailer, tents, showers, bathroom and plenty of equipment to breach, break, search, cameras and things like that," he said of some of the gear the team is bringing.
Since 4 a.m. on Thursday the team has been preparing for the trip.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
They are headed to Greensboro, North Carolina where they will learn what the next steps are and where they are needed most as Hurricane Helene makes its way across the region.
Booth said that the team is prepared for whatever the hurricane might throw at them.
"On hurricane responses like this, you know, you have a storm surge environment, which can lead to structural collapses, people that do not evacuate that need rescue, there could be a swift water rescue environment due to flash flooding and urban flooding," he told NBC10's Katy Zachry. There could be other rescue environments just from accumulated water where we will have to put boats in the water to rescue people."
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
The team specializes in search and rescue efforts and includes technical search specialists, structural engineers, doctors, canines and canine handlers, and experts in hazardous materials and other related fields.
They plan on supporting emergency efforts for the hurricane for at least two weeks and are prepared if they need to stay longer in order to help.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
