COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Task Force 1 is activating more resources to help with relief efforts amid Hurricane Helene.
The team, based out of Columbia, Missouri, said three more members were deployed Thursday after FEMA requested more aid.
It said two of those members responded to Orlando, Florida, as Geographic Information System (GIS) specialists and one member to North Carolina as a Division Group Supervisor.
Friday morning, FEMA asked Task Force 1 to set up a 16-person "Water Rescue Mission Ready Package" in North Carolina. That team left the Boone County Fire Protection District headquarters in the afternoon.
Task Force 1 said it already has a 45-person team staged in Georgia, which is scheduled to move 300 miles from Gainesville to Valdosta Saturday afternoon to receive a new mission assignment.
The hurricane left an enormous path of destruction across Florida and the entire southeastern U.S. on Friday, killing at least 40 people in four states, snapping trees like twigs, tearing apart homes and sending rescue crews on desperate missions to save people from floodwaters.
Nearly 4 million homes and businesses were without power Friday morning in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
