Virginia Task Force 2 deals with two hurricanes in one deployment

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Millions of people lost power in Florida as Milton spun out a barrage of tornadoes and strong winds that measured more than 100 miles per hour. Now people who weathered through the storm are in need of help.

Rescue crews from Virginia are heading into the thick of the storm damage after Milton ripped through Florida on Wednesday. But due to Hurricane Helene, many members of Virginia Task Force 2 have been away from home for more than two weeks.

Some of the 80 crew members were first deployed on Sept. 24, before Hurricane Helene made landfall . They went to the Tampa area, then rerouted to Mitchell County, North Carolina after the devastation in that area became clear.

“We stayed at Mitchell County Middle School and we helped with not only the search and rescue side of what we do, we also helped with the humanitarian side, delivering food, water, medication, whoever can’t get down to the distribution sites,” said Craig Brown, Virginia Task Force 2 Leader

They also helped the school find students who were unaccounted for. There was no way to contact them since cell service was temporarily knocked out. After about a week in North Carolina, they went to southern Georgia in preparation for Milton — awaiting marching orders as the damage is being assessed in Florida. They are going back to where the deployment started two hurricanes ago.

Brown told me they are prepared to stick this out for as long as they are needed.

“When we go into a situation where there’s a lot of damage and pain, we like to go assist those people in that pain, to try to relieve that and make everything better,” Brown said. “I think we’re a calming force. One of the teachers told me that we were a calming force for that community.”

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