INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana USAR Task Force 1 is headed to South Carolina to help with search and rescue efforts after Tropical Storm Debby passes through.

Forty-eight members of the task force left Indianapolis Sunday night. The team includes first responders from 17 public safety agencies across the state, including Indianapolis, Carmel, and Noblesville, and 15 civilian members.

Gerald George, Indiana Task Force 1 deployment leader, shared with News 8 how the team plans to deal with flooding and high winds.

“We’re taking all of our boats and all of our equipment in case there is any flood in buildings, obviously we can do shoring and rescuing, collapsed structures that kind of things our primary focus will be on swift water or flood invaded operations,” he said.

The team is expected to be gone for one to two weeks.

Debby was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane as it approached the Gulf Coast in Florida, but was downgraded back to a tropical storm Monday afternoon. It was expected to hit land by midday Monday.

This story was created using a script that aired on WISH-TV.