(UPDATE 3 PM EST: Tampa and Plant City police agencies are also deploying 20 troops north, with a send-off at 5:30 Thursday night.)
More than 70 personnel and a bevy of equipment headed up to ravaged areas of the Florida Panhandle last night in the immediate wake of Hurricane Michael.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue and Tampa Fire Rescue — collectively known as Florida Task Force 3 — scrambled multiple resources Wednesday evening and headed directly for the Apalachicola region of the state. Among the services the Task Force is bringing to bear are search and rescue, brush clearing, watercraft, medical trucks and K9 units.
Hurricane Michael was perhaps the strongest storm to strike the state of Florida since the state began keeping records, and the devastation was severe. Florida Task Force 3 reportedly expects to remain in the area for between one and two weeks to help with locating lost citizens, swift water rescue and cleanup, among other priorities.
