As the entire state of Florida braces for Hurricane Milton’s impact, a word of warning came by the truckload Tuesday from Ohio Task Force 1 (OHTF-1) rescue crews returning from the Asheville, N.C. area.
Hurricane Milton is currently expected to make landfall Wednesday.
Within the last 24 hours, eight crew members from OHTF-1 returned home from two weeks of rescue efforts. Eighty-two members left for Orlando, Florida on Monday.
OHTF-1 members traveled to the area in a 16-vehicle convoy, arriving late in the evening.
“Milton’s wind and pressure readings place the fast-evolving hurricane in the history books,” the team said in a post on Facebook. “[Incident Transfer] Orders removed OH-TF1 from operations related to Hurricane Helene and assigned them to the State of Florida as Hurricane Milton strengthened significantly.”
An OHTF-1 spokesperson said crews will assist local municipalities with emergency response efforts as well as search and rescue.
“Just general search and rescue operations … and just trying to figure out what each county or jurisdiction needs from us,” said Kevin Butsco, a firefighter volunteering with the task force.