Dozens from Colorado Task Force 1 headed to Florida to assist with hurricane response

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — More than 70 members of Colorado Task Force 1 geared up on Wednesday to head to Florida ahead of the eventual landfall of Hurricane Milton.

The major hurricane is expected to make landfall in the Sarasota and Tampa areas along Florida’s west-central coast overnight Wednesday. As of the 2 p.m. Eastern update, Hurricane Milton had 130 mph sustained winds with higher gusts. 

Sixteen members of the task force packed up and flew out of Denver on a redeye flight Wednesday morning to Jacksonville in northeast Florida. Another 55 task force members went through their gear and had their vitals checked before taking a bus to Denver International Airport to also head to Jacksonville. 

From there, task force members will go to Fort Blanding in Clay County, Florida, to rendezvous with other task force crews who have been on hurricane deployment since Sept. 26 in response to Hurricane Helene. The massive storm caused catastrophic damage to areas along Florida’s western coast and Big Bend area, before moving inland dumping more than a foot of rain in some areas of western North Carolina, causing biblical flooding.

Members who were in western North Carolina searched for missing people and peoples’ bodies with the assistance of two cadaver dog teams.

A total of 80 Colorado Task Force 1 members will be at Fort Blanding until the storm passes. After Milton moves out of Florida they’ll get their assignments, the Task Force posted on its Facebook page Wednesday.

Task Force 1 is one of 28 federal FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Teams in the country.