California sending help to East Coast for Hurricane Milton

Debris covers the ground near a crane that fell onto a building along 1st Avenue South in St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Milton’s strong winds tore through the area Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Chris Urso/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

SANTA ANA – Emergency response teams from California are being deployed to the East Coast to assist residents dealing with Hurricane Milton, including teams from Los Angeles and Orange counties.

“The OCFA Urban Search & Rescue California Task Force 5 (CA-TF5) deployed 33 additional personnel as part of a Type 1 Team in response to #HurricaneMilton,” the Orange County Fire Authority said Wednesday evening.

“This is the first OCFA Type 1 Team deployed in 16 years — last deployed in 2008 for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

“Proud to serve those affected by these severe storms as part of a national response to the region, CA-TF5 is one of only 28 national US&R Task Forces that respond as a FEMA resource during national emergencies that require highly skilled search & rescue personnel,” the department said.

Officials added that OCFA is the sponsoring agency for the task force, but the team also includes personnel from the Anaheim and Orange fire departments.

A Los Angeles Fire Department team has also been deployed to the East Coast to assist with Federal Emergency Management Agency relief efforts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state Office of Emergency Services was deploying 144 firefighters and ground support personnel from US&R Task Forces from Menlo Park and the city and county of Los Angeles to assist with response efforts.

On Wednesday, Newsom announced the deployment of an additional 70 California-based firefighters to the East Coast, bringing the number of “highly specialized personnel to support recent hurricane response efforts” to 354, according to the governor’s press office.

Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, but was later downgraded to a Category 2 with winds of about 110 mph. (CNS)