FLORIDA, USA — Indiana Task Force One is on standby in Southern Georgia Wednesday night ahead of Hurricane Milton.
The 84-person team is expected to fly into the Tampa area after the storm moves through.
"The guys are ready, and we are going to be going down into Florida as soon as Milton comes through,” said Jay Settergren, leader of Task Force One.
The more than 80-person team has been in "search and rescue" mode for over two weeks.
They were first deployed to Florida ahead of Hurricane Helene and spent days helping in the aftermath of the devastating storm. IN-TF1 was then relocated to North Carolina, assisting in the aftermath of Helene there.
"We did a bunch of training today to be prepped for Milton to come in. With it being as strong as it is, we believe there is probably going to be a need for us to be airlifted in. So, we did a bunch of aircraft safety training today,” Settergren said.
The team also spent time resting up after being deployed since early September. Settergren called his team "resilient."
"The last two days we have really been concentrating on getting some rest and just prepping for Milton,” Settergren said. “They are very strong-minded, have very sharp skills and have been practicing their craft. Everybody is upbeat and ready to go help.”
Their main assignment will be search and rescue, which will help many of the local first responders who are overwhelmed.
“They believe with the size of this storm that they are going to be taxed very quickly just because of again the size and complexity of it,” Settergren said.
The team is waiting for the storm to pass and for it to become safe before deploying. Settergren said that that call can come even overnight.
