Ohio Task Force 1 heads back to Florida as Hurricane Milton rapidly strengthens

DAYTON, Ohio ( WDTN ) — Less than two weeks since Hurricane Helene made landfall, Hurricane Milton was just announced as a Category 5 and is expected to hit Florida on Wednesday.

Ohio Task Force 1, just removed from North Carolina, has been once again mobilized.

Officials say Ohio Task Force 1 is going into what could be its longest deployment ever. Leaders say they’re typically prepared for deployment for up to 21 days; it’s likely they’ll be meeting and possibly exceeding that with the recent hurricane response.

A new element of Ohio Task Force 1 departed for Atlanta from their headquarters just a few hours ago. There, they’ll meet up with other members before continuing back to Florida.

The active portion of Ohio Task Force 1 in North Carolina was released at midnight; a portion of them are returning to be relieved.

Preparing for their longest continuous deployment yet, around half of the task force members continued. Eight of the team members were relieved and replaced before departure.

2 NEWS spoke with one of the program managers who says he’s confident that despite the lengthy deployment, they’ll continue to be as effective as they’ve always been.

“We have some excellent people with a whole lot of deployments in their history. The reputation this team has on most deployments is that we do very well,” said Evan Schumann, Ohio Task Force 1 program manager.

At this time, the task force’s deployment does not have an end date.

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