Indiana National Guard joins other local agencies for Hurricane Ian recovery efforts
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana National Guard will join several other local agencies in lending a hand in response to Hurricane Ian.
More than a dozen Indiana National Guard soldiers will head to Florida on Thursday morning to help with hurricane relief and recovery efforts.
The soldiers will be joined by three flight crews and mechanics, along with two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to assist military and civilian agencies.
The group is set to depart at 9 a.m. from the Shelbyville National Guard Armory.
Indiana Task Force 1 said Thursday it was asked to deploy 35 additional team members to Florida. They will join the 48 IN-TF1 members currently staged in the northern part of the state. The second team will leave Indianapolis at noon.
IN-TF1 is one of the country’s 28 Federal Emergency Management Agency search and rescue teams.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell laid out Hurricane Ian relief plans Wednesday.
“There are multiple volunteer agencies that are staged and prepared to perform feeding operations as soon as it is safe. These teams will coordinate search and rescue efforts by land, air, and sea,” Criswell said. “We have 128,000 gallons of fuel, ready for rapid deployment.”
Dozens of volunteers with the Indiana Region of the American Red Cross are also assisting in relief efforts.
Indiana utility crews helping in Florida
Teams from Duke Energy and AES Indiana are already in Florida to help utility companies restore power to millions of residents. AES sent 233 linemen and Duke Energy sent more than 130 Indiana employees.
Kelly Young, AES spokesperson, stopped by Daybreak on Thursday to talk about the AES workers from Indiana and Ohio that are now on the ground in the Sunshine State.