Ohio Task Force 1 activated as Tropical Storm Debby moves into Florida

OHIO — Ohio Task Force 1 (OH-TF1) has been activated as a Type III team as Tropical Storm Debby has made landfall in Florida, according to a spokesperson from the task force.

The tropical storm was upgraded to a hurricane Sunday night but was downgraded on Monday.

“You quickly learn to roll with the punches, so to speak, that you don’t know exactly what it’s going to be. So you’re essentially prepared for anything as cliche as that may sound,” OH-TF1 Team Leader Adam Landis said.

This is Landis’ 11th deployment with this task force.

The storm could hit Florida with over a foot of rain and create strong storm surges in some areas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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Flash, urban, and isolated river flooding may occur through Wednesday morning.

“The early activation of OH-TF1 will have them in the area should they be needed,” the spokesperson said.

47 OH-TF1 members, including three K9 handlers and their K9 partners were deployed.

This team has almost a dozen people with water rescue experience.

“A lot of our deployments revolve around flooding, type of incidents as a result of hurricanes,” Landis said.

The spokesperson said these members are skilled in various aspects of search and rescue operations, as well as HazMat, medical, logistics, safety, communications, and planning.

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“The emotions, it’s, it’s all over the place. Guys are excited. You know, there’s, there’s also the nerves that go with that. Because we, you’re going into the unknown,” Landis said.

The OH-TF1 team will head to the Atlantic coast, but their specific destination has not been determined yet.

There are several senior officers on the team, and Landis said that is important.

“It makes it easier for the new guys to look at the older guys and say, he’s pretty calm. It’s the way I should be, right? So it’s a good learning tool in that regard,” Landis said.

The team left its Vandalia headquarters Sunday at 11 p.m.

Tennessee Task Force 1 and Virginia Task Forces 1 and 2 are also being deployed, the spokesperson said.

“When you look around at the guys, the men and women to your left and right on this team, and knowing how good they are at what they do, it’s just a reassuring thing,” Landis said.

The Task Force expects to be gone for two weeks.

We will continue to follow this story.

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