Ohio Task Force 1 heads south before Hurricane Idalia hits Florida

VANDALIA, Ohio — Ohio Task Force 1 has been deployed to help Florida disaster response agencies with the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.

The National Hurricane Center said Idalia officially became a hurricane early Tuesday morning and is now recording top sustained winds of 85 mph.

The 47-person team left their headquarters in Vandalia around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday, so they can be in position in Georgia by the afternoon.

Task Force Leader Jim O’Connor says FEMA directed his team to the Peach State but noted their assignment could change.

“This seems to be a very fast moving and very fast growing hurricane that’s coming in, so typically we’d expect to see water and flooding issues,” said O’Connor.

According to O’Connor, one advantage they have is that they are familiar with the area.

“A couple of the areas where it’s coming into, we’ve been in some of those regions before. So, we’ve got some idea of what kind of environment we’re going to face, what some of the issues are going to be there for us,” O’Connor said.

This will be O’Connor’s third time leading OH-TF1. He’s been deployed several times over the years, and so has Cincinnati Fire Lieutenant Mike Lotz. Lotz will be the search rescue manager on this deployment. His primary job is placing the right rescuers with the right equipment at the right time.

“We are what we call an all hazard team, you know, anything from rescuing somebody at heights, to rescuing somebody out of a trench, to a collapsed structure, to swift water, to anything you can think of. You know, we are prepared to do any of those rescue jobs that are required,” Lotz said.

O’Connor added their team includes search specialists, two K9s, structure specialists and hazmat specialists.

“We’ve got a hazmat component. We’ve got a lot of contamination in these areas. They’re focused on keeping us safe from those types of hazards in the area,” O’Connor said.

Lotz added his biggest concern will be flooding.

“The storm surge is always the biggest problem closest to the coast, you know, it can just level structures. The inland flooding will usually come later, you know, we’ve had situations where we’ve been out for several days and then all of a sudden the inland flooding starts,” Lotz said.

A local celebrity was also recently deployed to help with the storm.

Bengals fan "Tony Da Tiger" works as a lineman when he's not wearing his amazing Bengals costume.

He wrote on social media that he and 40 other coworkers are heading to Florida to help with any power outages the storm will cause.