Virginia Task Force 1 is on its way to South Carolina.
The Fairfax County-based international urban search and rescue task force was deployed last night (Sunday) to assist with the emergency response to Tropical Storm Debby, which made landfall as a hurricane near Steinhatchee on the west coast of Florida around 7 a.m. this morning (Monday).
A Type III Urban Search and Rescue team was deployed, which includes 45 people, six boats and two dogs, according to Virginia Task Force 1 Captain Rob Clement.
“The team is expected to arrive in South Carolina this afternoon where they will await further direction from federal and state emergency management officials,” the task force said in a tweet at 8:21 a.m. today.
Last night, VA-TF1 deployed a 45-person Type III US&R team for Hurricane Debby. The team is expected to arrive in South Carolina this afternoon where they will await further direction from federal and state emergency management officials.@fema @ffxfirerescue #HurricaneDebby pic.twitter.com/Wy9RhgRg0D
— VA-TF1 / USA-1 – Urban Search and Rescue (@VATF1) August 5, 2024
As of 11 a.m., the National Hurricane Center has downgraded Debby from a hurricane to a tropical storm with sustained winds of 70 mph, down from 75 mph at 8 a.m. and 80 mph when it first reached land. With the storm expected to travel northeast to Georgia, the center warns of “major flooding” in the southeastern U.S. over “the next few days.”
At least one death has already been confirmed in Florida after an 18-wheeler truck driver veered into a canal.
Virginia Task Force 1 consists of approximately 200 career and volunteer Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department personnel who are specially trained to respond to disasters in the U.S. and around the world, as requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
The task force’s past missions have included last August’s Hurricane Idalia, the 2023 Syria and Turkey earthquake, and the 2021 presidential inauguration.
