Hurricane Helene: Florida to help North Carolina, Tennessee recovery in ‘Operation Blue Ridge’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida is sending recovery assistance to North Carolina and Tennessee to help with Hurricane Helene’s impacts in “Operation Blue Ridge.”

According to a news release from DeSantis’ office, state agencies responding include the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Florida State Guard, Florida National Guard, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Florida Law Enforcement Coordination Task Force, and a Law Enforcement Strike Team.

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DeSantis also announced that Floridians seeking rescue in Western North Carolina will be aided by the State of Florida. Floridians can fill out the assistance form at FloridaDisaster.org/OperationBlueRidge.

The state said the mission will begin with the following assets and personnel:

Florida Division of Emergency Management

• One All-Hazards Incident Management Team
• One Communication Unit Strike Team
• One Telecommunications Emergency Response Task Force
• Ten Truck Loads of Water (which equates to 42, 550 gallons of water)
• Over 100 Starlinks

Florida State Guard

• Two Special Missions Search and Rescue Teams
• 8 search and rescue soldiers
• 1 aerial assessment pilot

Florida National Guard

• Two National Guard Response Teams
• 8 National Guard soldiers
• Equipment
• 2 CH-47 Chinooks and crew

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

• One Law Enforcement Coordination Taskforce
• 7 FDLE agents and analysts
• One Law Enforcement Strike Team
• 7 FDLE agents and officers

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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Division of Law Enforcement

• 22-man team
• 2 Captains
• 2 Team Leaders
• 12 Officers/Investigators
• 1 LE PIO
• 1Mechanic
• Equipment
• 1 SOG trailer
• 4 High-water vehicles (buggy/high water UTV)
• 3 Airboats
• 3 Shallow Draft vessels
• 18 4×4 trucks
• Aviation
• Fixed wing aircraft
• 1 pilot
• 1 tactical flight officer

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Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation has made the following resources available to support the immediate inspection and assessment of transportation infrastructure maintained by NCDOT and TDOT:

• Emergency Cut and Toss Strike Teams
• Infrastructure Damage Assessment Teams
• Bridge Inspection Team (including structures impacted by flood waters)
• Temporary Bridge Materials
• Hydraulic Modeling Professional
• Project & Contract Management Teams
• Public Information Officer & Emergency Communications Technology

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