Mass. Task Force 1 deploys members to Florida in the wake of Hurricane Milton

Help is heading from Massachusetts to Florida in the coming days and weeks.

Some groups already on the ground for Hurricane Helene recovery will now be dealing with the aftermath of Milton.

The organization Massachusetts Task Force 1 has more than 60 people down south helping where they can.

The group runs 200 volunteers deep and are at the ready to fill more needed positions.

“Now they’re basically in a holding pattern, waiting for any additional orders either to conduct additional operations in North Carolina or move down to Florida,” said public information officer Tom Gatzunis.

Gatzunis says 63 workers are in the tar heel state.

Three others have been sent to Georgia’s incident support team for Hurricane Milton.

“They helped to do the preparing and logistics as well as you know planning for potential search and rescue operations and coordinating with all the FEMA teams across the country,” said Gatzunis.

Task Force 1 is made up of volunteers across all New England states – from police officers and firefighters to doctors and engineers.

“We all pray that the call never comes up because that means that someone is in harm’s way but when that call does come every one of us wants to be the first one to go and help,” said Gatzunis.

With Helene followed by Milton, Gatzunis says search and rescue efforts will be made more difficult by the debris people moved to the street after the first storm.

“Not only did it become airborne but it also gets washed with the flood waters so it then helps to create additional hazards where normally they wouldn’t be there,” Gatzunis explained.

Gatzunis says a typical deployment is two weeks.

Some have already been down south for 15 days – but will stay as long as they can or as long as needed.

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