OK Task Force 1 returns home from Florida following Hurricane Helene relief efforts

The Oklahoma Task Force 1 has returned home from Florida.

It was a difficult two-week journey filled with mixed emotions.

The OK Task Force 1 leader said the only way to explain the damage from Hurricane Helene was to compare it to Oklahoma’s tornadoes.

“I’ve been deployed on multiple tornadoes here in Oklahoma, the devastation we saw in North Carolina reminded me of those tornadoes but on a greater scale,” said Justin Ellington, Task Force Leader with Oklahoma Task Force 1. “Everywhere there was water that rushed through rivers, creeks, whatever just demolished everything. It was like a F-5 tornado, only worse.”

The task force returned home Wednesday afternoon after a two-week search and rescue deployment for Hurricane Helene, stopping in Florida first and then North Carolina.

“We had a day’s notice, and we left Wednesday, two weeks ago,” said Ellington. “We were all assigned to certain areas of the county. They lay it out in a grid system and once we complete that mission, we do a hasty search then we come back through and do a primary search, and then finish up with a secondary search.”

He said it was not easy, especially when they made it to North Carolina.

“We had no running water, no power, and communication was a challenge. No cellphone service, no internet service,” said Ellington. “The disconnect not only from here made it challenging but communicating with one another while our team members up there...had to go back to the old paper maps and there’s a lot of people who have forgotten how to use paper maps.”

According to Ellington, their number one main goal was to rescue live victims.

Now that he’s back, there is one thing on his to-do list.

“I can’t wait to see my wife and girls...I haven’t been away from them for more than a week and a half. I miss my family, but they are very supportive. They knew what we were doing, and we were doing good stuff. I just can’t wait to give them a hug,” Ellington said.

Meanwhile, Andy Little of the Tulsa Fire Department said another team is heading to Florida to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

“This week has been pretty crazy. Today, the first team that deployed and has been working in Carolina just arrived home, and those folks are unloading their gear, eager to get home to their families,” said Little.

FOX23 asked Little how the Oklahoma Task Force prepares for natural disasters that differ from what we see in Oklahoma.

“OKTF-1 does a lot of specialized training,” said Little. “In the new group, they took three K-9s every day so there’s a lot of additional training that goes into that. Because it’s important that they are useful, and they are ready to go when they get there.”

He said the crews would set up a base a few hours from where they believed Hurricane Milton would land.

While Hurricane Helene has made its way out, Hurricane Milton has made landfall in Florida and Ellington said his message to crews out there is to stay safe and remember what you are there to do and good luck.