Phoenix couple headed to help in wake of hurricane
Despite the more than 1,000 miles between Phoenix and the Texas towns affected by Hurricane Harvey, a number of organizations in the Grand Canyon state have deployed resources to aid those caught in the path of the storm.
Hurricane Harvey smashed into the Texas coast Friday night as a Category 4 storm.
Though it had weakened substantially by Saturday, causing the National Weather Service to downgrade it to a tropical storm, weather and emergency officials warned of “catastrophic” flooding as the slow-moving storm lingered in the region. Arizona Task Force 1 is on standby. The specialized team, mainly comprised of experienced firefighters and police officers, has been put on alert by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is overseeing the response to Harvey.
On Saturday, they were preparing to be ready to deploy at any time to Texas.
Phoenix Fire Department Chief Kara Kalkbrenner confirmed in a tweet Saturday morning that AZ-TF1 was being readied to assist after the storm.
“We have been contacted by FEMA that we should be in the ready state,” said Rob McDade, a spokesman for the team. “Our urban search and rescue team works under the umbrella of FEMA.”
Most of the members of the team have at least 15 years of experience in special operations and regularly assist with incidents around Phoenix.
These are the people hanging from helicopters, doing moutain rescues and working in confined spaces such as the sewers, McDade said.
“These are senior members who routinely work in the city,” he said. “They train once a week, some of them twice a week. Most of them have 15, 20, 25 years with the department, with special ops.”
Officials are not sure yet how many members of the team will be sent but said FEMA would give a number when giving the call to deploy.
Nine Phoenix volunteers, along with 14 others from throughout the state, are also scheduled to travel to Texas over the coming weeks as part of a response effort by the Arizona branch of the American Red Cross.