AUSTIN (KXAN) – It has been a busy few weeks for emergency crews in North Carolina and Florida.
Texas A&M Task Force 1 is just one of the many groups that has been helping after Helene devastated the region.
“We always prepare for worse than predicted so we are ready for anything,” said Christy Bormann with Texas A&M Task Force 1.
Her crew of about 80 personnel, along with rescue boats and vehicles, hasn’t had much down time since they started helping.
“When we were responding for Hurricane Helene we started our response in Pensacola, Florida,” Bormann said.
When things got bad in North Carolina they headed to Yancey County, just north of hard hit Asheville.
“There we were doing both searches of residents as well as damage assessments,” Bormann said.
Bormann, and her two K-9’s, Connor and Canyon, play a critical role during and after disasters.
“Connor is a live find dog so he is trained to find people who are still living,” Bormann said. “So, he was critical early on in our response looking for people who might be trapped in their homes. Then Canyon is trained to find Human Remains. So once Connor completed his mission, Canyon was able to step in and go to work searching for those who did not survive the disaster.”
Now with Hurricane Milton headed towards Sarasota, Bormann and her crews will be back on the Florida coast.
“We basically wait in this location until Florida tells us they are ready for us and they tell us where they want us to go.”
Bormann said no matter what happens her crew is ready to respond and help.
“We are prepared to continue responding. We spent yesterday getting all of our equipment ready so that we are ready to go just like it was day one of the mission.”
According to Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas National Guard will be providing military aircraft including, Blackhawks and Chinooks to assist with urban search and rescue, transportation of personnel and supplies and extraction efforts.
Texas Department of Public Safety will be sending more than 180 state troopers and law enforcement personnel, including command vehicles and communications platforms; helicopters with hoist capabilities and Texas Highway Patrol Tactical Marine Unit to support flood rescue operations.
For a full list of resources Abbott is sending click here.