Nevada Task Force 1 returns home after helping with hurricane recovery efforts

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Members of Nevada Task Force 1 have finally returned home after helping with recovery efforts from hurricane damage in several states like Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.

The team left in 2 waves. The first group departed in September with the second wave following shortly after.

Matthew Gordon is one of the leaders on this deployment. He said it was out of the ordinary to respond to two disasters back to back.

“Most of us are first responders when we’re not doing the USAR work and for us to adapt and change on the fly, it’s something we prepare for,” said Gordon.

USAR also known as Urban Search and Rescue has 28 teams across the country including here in Southern Nevada, it’s a branch of FEMA ready to assist with water operations and large search rescues.

“We do that and sometimes it’s the little things like just checking somebody’s blood pressure because they’re not feeling well or delivering the food or the water or helping them move the debris from their driveway just so they can get their vehicles in and out, those kind of things tend to be the most meaningful,” Gordon explained.

Gordon said this type 1 deployment included the full 80 staff members, 24 hour operations, with all equipment involved.

“In this storm particularly, we saw more water damage than wind damage. Some hurricanes that we’ve responded to in the past where the winds might’ve been higher, you’ll see a lot of destruction from the winds themselves,” Gordon added. “There’s always a lot of flooding that occurs with these storms, you might have the accumulated rain and also the storm surge that comes up.”

Now back at the task force warehouse, the first responders are taking time to reflect and regroup.

“We’re bringing all our folks back in today and tomorrow to debrief what we learned, what went well, what we can do better for the next one,” Gordon remarked.

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