This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken at 10:50 a.m. ET Wednesday shows Hurricane Helene off the Gulf Coast of Florida near Mexico and Cuba. Provided photo
Four local firefighters and paramedics are deploying with Indiana Task Force 1 to assist in the future response to Hurricane Helene.
IN-TF1, the state’s Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated urban search and rescue task force, was activated Tuesday to deploy to Florida as a “Type 1 NIMS Mission Ready Package” in support of operations of Hurricane Helene, which is expected to impact that state as soon as late Thursday. A total of 80 personnel are being deployed, officials said in a news release.
A Type 1 deployment is a full deployment of the task force, providing full rescue capabilities, including hazmat, medical, K-9s and structural specialists.
Local first responders deploying are Lt. Joe Kipfer, a rescue specialist with the Bargersville Community Fire Department; firefighter Daniel McElyea, a rescue specialist with the Franklin Fire Department; and firefighter Michael Combs and paramedic Chelsea Spina, a communications specialist and medical specialist, respectively, with the White River Township Fire Department, said Mike Pruitt, a task force spokesperson and Bargersville Fire deputy chief. They left for Florida Tuesday evening.
Helene was rapidly strengthening in the Caribbean Sea and became a hurricane Wednesday while moving north along Mexico’s coast toward the U.S., prompting residents to evacuate, schools to close and officials to declare emergencies in Florida and Georgia, the Associated Press reported.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the hurricane was about 500 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida, and had sustained winds of 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said it is expected to “intensify and grow in size” as it moves north across the Gulf of Mexico. Helene is expected to become a major hurricane with its center making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s northwestern coast as soon as late Thursday.
Heavy rainfall was forecast for the southeastern U.S. starting Wednesday, with a “life-threatening storm surge” along the entire west coast of Florida, according to the center. Hurricane warnings have been issued for part of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and Florida’s northwestern coastline, where large storm surges of up to 15 feet were expected, the AP reported.
After Helene makes landfall in Florida, it is expected to swing north into Georgia, where hurricane and tropical storm alerts are in effect, before making a slow shift northwest and losing steam. From Friday into Saturday, tropical depression conditions are expected to impact areas of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois and southern Indiana, forecasts show.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures. It forecast 17 to 25 named storms before the season ends Nov. 30, with four to seven major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
