Ohio Task Force 1 is expected to return Saturday evening to its Vandalia base after working in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Ida made landfall.
The urban search-and-rescue team deployed 45 members with a full equipment cache of water rescue equipment, water rescue team and canine search teams on Aug. 27, ahead of the hurricane’s Aug. 29 landfall that left people without power in dangerous heat and communities inundated with water.
OH-TF1 includes team members from across Ohio who represent public and private sectors and includes career and part-time fire personnel, law enforcement officers, emergency medical and hospital personnel, structural engineers and other professionals.
The team has performed several days of work on damage assessment, which it said are critical for the community and Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide rebuilding and recovery for hard-hit areas.
Ohio Task Force 1 last deployed June 30 to aid recovery efforts at the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla.
