By james art A group from Nevada tasked with helping with hurricane response efforts as wind, rain and devastation battered the southeastern states recently returned home.
Nevada Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue team funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, recently deployed in two waves to help stranded Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina residents after the hurricanes Milton and Helen.
Hurricane Helen was one of the deadliest storms in US history, knocking out power and damaging homes in the Southeast. Hurricane Milton followed closely behind, pounding Florida as a Category 3 storm, bringing with it strong winds and claiming lives and homes.
A total of 81 people were deployed as part of Nevada’s Task Force 1, which has previously responded to events including Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing, according to Stacey Welling, public information manager for Clark County.
Responding to two disasters in a row is “a little unusual for us,” said Matthew Gordon, Nevada Task Force 1 team leader and battalion chief for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.
Gordon said the team is “aware” that as climate change worsens the conditions that allow storms to thrive, deployments may become longer and more frequent. But for a group made up mostly of first responders, strength is used to adapt on the fly.
“We’re just there to help people,” Gordon said.
Fighting misinformation
Nevada Task Force 1 is acting in a support role to local first responders who are leading recovery efforts. “They still rule,” Gordon said.
While residents are generally grateful to see the team reaching out to their community, “sometimes there’s a little bit of animosity,” Gordon said. “People hear the word FEMA, and sometimes it might not be everybody’s favorite word.”
The federal agency is the subject of misinformation brewing amid storm clouds and waves.
At a fundraiser in southern Nevada for two Republican congressional candidates, House Speaker Mike Johnson said FEMA is “beyond the mission” by “helping to resettle illegal aliens.”
Gordon said the task force was made aware of misinformation residents may have heard.
“We don’t want to be caught off guard when we’re communicating with people and we’re not aware of what they’re feeling,” he said, adding that the team is usually able to disarm misinformation.
“We’re not there for political purposes,” Gordon said. “We’re really there to try to help them put the pieces back together.”
Damage caused by Milton, Helene
The extent of damage caused by the two storms “really varies” between neighborhoods, Gordon said.
In North Carolina and Tennessee, “the damage was certainly devastating,” Gordon said. “But it’s interesting how you can walk into another neighborhood that’s just a block or a few blocks away and it almost looks like nothing happened.”
In Florida, Gordon said the storm was “not as bad as it was expected to be or what it could potentially be,” but that certain areas, particularly those near the center of the storm, were “severely devastated,” with significant water damage .
“I try to remind myself that even though it may not be the overwhelming devastation that it could be,” for someone who needs help with their home or business, Gordon said, “this devastation is complete, utter and real “.
The team is prepared for water operations, fortifying collapsed buildings or conducting large-area searches, Gordon said.
But often at the end of a mission, task force members remember smaller moments, such as checking someone’s blood pressure, delivering food or water, or clearing an alley. “Those things tend to be some of the most meaningful,” Gordon said.
While the task force sometimes helps search for missing loved ones, in Tennessee, Gordon said his team is “primarily looking for remains at this point.”
But in Florida, most people had evacuated. Nowadays, Gordon said, “people are a little less inclined to want to try to ride out the storm at home.”
Contact Estelle Atkinson at [email protected]. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.