Two Bargersville Community Fire Department firefighters were in Wilmington, N.C. when Hurricane Florence made landfall on Friday morning.
Michael Pruitt and Sean Campbell, volunteers with Indiana Task Force One, were getting to work where first responders were needed while waiting for the storm to pass.
"Hurricane Florence arrived this morning. High winds and rain are pounding the area. We are dealing with a few roof leaks, running on emergency power, and Florence is making the building rattle. But all is well," Pruitt posted on social media early Friday morning.
The task force headed out Friday afternoon to help the Wilmington Fire Department remove a large tree from a house where residents were trapped, according to the task force’s Facebook page. Indiana Task Force One sent 86 first responders from around the state to help in the wake of the hurricane, which was downgraded to a Category 1 by the time it came ashore.
The task force recorded 105 mph winds Friday. They made the move on Thursday to Wilmington from Raleigh, N.C. ahead of the storm that was expected to drop several feet of rain on the region and cause major flooding.
Four local utility workers who were on standby with two large rigs likely will not head to North and South Carolina because of the amount of flooding on the coast.
The Johnson County REMC is still waiting to hear whether the state cooperative is going to deploy them, CEO John Sturm said Friday. If they are deployed, they would head out on Sunday now and caravan with other county REMCs and state agencies to damaged areas.
