Hurricane Michael: Miami Area First Responders Mobilize

MIAMI, FL — Miami area first responders were being deployed Tuesday to staging areas in Florida ahead of Hurricane Michael. The storm is expected to pass by South Florida.

"The City of Miami Florida Task Force 2 has been activated to deploy and pre-stage in preparation of Hurricane Michael's arrival," explained Captain Ignatius Carroll of Miami Fire Rescue.

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Miami-Dade first responders were also preparing to head to northern Florida on Tuesday ahead of Hurricane Michael. Forty-five members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue Team FL-TF1 had just returned from a mission in South Carolina two days earlier.

"The Urban Search and Rescue Team mission is to respond to natural and man-made disasters by providing search and rescue support, medical support, communications and damage assessment, and to coordinate the distribution of relief supplies," according to a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesperson.

Carroll said the deployment was expected to get underway at 6 a.m. Tuesday at a warehouse located at 1100 NW South River Drive. The Miami Fire Rescue team was scheduled to head up to a staging area in Ocala by late morning.

Photo courtesy Miami Fire Rescue