Beverly-Based MA Task Force 1 Deployed For Hurricane Helene Aid

BEVERLY, MA — Forty-five members of the Beverly-based Massachusetts Task Force 1 were on their way to North Carolina early Thursday morning as the region braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Helene.

Task Force 1 provides tactical assistance and urban search-and-rescue services to local authorities during national disasters, weather catastrophies and other emergency situations. MA Task Force 1 has been deployed to wildfire areas of the Pacific Northwest as well as to the hurricane-damaged South in recent years, and was among the first units deployed to New York City following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Massachusetts contingent was sent to North Carolina, where 12 to 20 inches of rain is possible as the storm marches north after its expected landfall in northern Florida on Thursday night. As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, Helene had sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, was expected to carry a 20-foot storm surge and was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)