VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Additional members of Virginia Task Force 2 (VA-TF2) are staging in Orlando ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
They gathered Monday morning at the FEMA warehouse in Virginia Beach off Lynnhaven Parkway and hit the road a little after 11 a.m. Another small group is in Atlanta, and a large team of about 80 is in the western part of North Carolina.
“I don’t think it’s ever been like this. We currently have two I.S.T. teams out right now which is Incident Support Teams that have members from all of Hampton Roads on there. We have the 80-member team that’s going out and this 17-member team,” described Battalion Chief Michael Carter who is the task force leader for the crew that left Monday. “So very busy, historic season, but we’re ready to go and we’re ready to help with whatever they need.”
Watch: Hurricane Milton strengthens to a category 5 storm
News 3 also talked with the task force leader in Mitchell County, North Carolina on Monday. He said they’ve been very busy with everything from searches to delivering prescription medication.
“We have a program that we use that has every road in the county and every house and structure. So, our mission is to make sure we put hands on every one of those,” explained Assistant Chief Michael Brashear.
Describing the work in North Carolina, he added, “Up to date, we’ve searched over 7,000 structures in Mitchell County. We’ve covered over 1,600 miles on the road. We’ve covered also over 40 miles on the river where we take boats up the river.
That crew is on alert, ready to reposition to Florida if needed.
