Florida Task Force 1, 2 Ready To Help With Search & Rescue After Ida

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Florida Taskforce 1 and Miami Fire Rescue Florida Taskforce 2 are standing by in Mississippi to assist in rescue operations after the landfall of Hurricane Ida.

This will be the teams' first mission since the building collapse in Surfside.

"We're staged and waiting for the order," said Miami Fire Rescue Captain Ignatius Carroll.

He said their 80 member team is staged in the area of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and they are ready to go.

"We take everything. We take hazmat equipment to monitor and make sure it is safe enough for us to breathe in. We take our dogs, we take all of our logistical equipment including tents so we have a place to sleep at night," said Scott Dean, assistant fire chief with Task Force 2.

The task force members are specifically trained, they can help in search and rescue, medical emergencies, and in dangerous flooding.

It will be a familiar area for Task Force 2. They were deployed to the Gulf 16 years ago for Hurricane Katrina. The team helped identify the damage and searched for people in need of rescue. Now they are ready to do that again.

"What we want to do is reduce the response time to allow us to get to those people who are in need," said Carroll.

The Globa Empowerment Mission is gathering supplies in Doral to send to the hardest hit areas in Louisiana.

If you would like to help, Neighbors 4 Neighbors is poised to assist in the relief and recovery. Donations can be made at neighbors4neighbors.org/ida or by texting IDA to 41444.