3 Harford County Deputies Head To North Carolina For Hurricane Recovery Efforts

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Monday morning, three deputies from Harford County joined forces with the Harford County Department of Emergency Services to form an incident management support team and headed down to North Carolina to help with recovery efforts.

According to the Harford County Sheriff's Office, nearly 1,000 people remain unaccounted for and the death toll is near 100. There have been widespread power outages, mudslides and collapsed roads.

Heading south is Major Eric Gonzalez, Lt. Scott Blankenship and Sr. Deputy TJ Jackson.

Members of Montgomery County's Urban Search and Rescue Team headed to Georgia on Wednesday to assist residents affected by Hurricane Helene. The team is comprised of 45 members from the Montgomery, Howard, Frederick and Prince George's County fire departments, as well as DC Fire and EMS, according to officials.

Maryland Task Force 1 is one of 28 across the United States that respond to natural and manmade disasters as part of FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Teams have previously assisted with recovery efforts following Hurricane Floyd, the Oklahoma City bombing, and last year's devastating Maui wildfires, according to county officials.