Ninety-eight emergency responders from Mississippi are headed to Florida to assist with hurricane relief and recovery efforts after Hurricane Irma made landfall there this weekend.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management requested assistance, and on Sept. 10, 61 search-and-rescue specialists from Mississippi left for Florida. Other responders will leave today to help, a press release from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says.
“We are honored to send some of Mississippi’s most experienced disaster-response specialists to help our neighbors in Florida as they face this major hurricane,” MEMA Director Lee Smithson said in a press release. “Florida was the first state to roll into the Mississippi Gulf Coast right after Hurricane Katrina to help us with response and recovery. Governor Bryant is committed to assisting Florida with all the resources it needs and we can provide.”
Gov. Phil Bryant echoed his support of deploying Mississippi responders to help in Florida on his Facebook page.
“I am committed to providing Florida with all the resources it needs and we can provide,” he said on Facebook Sept. 10.
Several state-agency workers will go to assist Florida officials in Irma rescue and recovery efforts. Twenty-six swiftwater search-and-rescue officers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and 35 specialists from the State’s Search and Rescue Task Force will help Florida officials in the coming days.
Officials from the Mississippi Department of Human Services and Department of Health will also help with food, shelter and health operations in Florida. The Mississippi National Guard will deploy two helicopters to Florida as well, a press release from MEMA says.
Email state reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow @jxnfreepress on Twitter for breaking news and subscribe free to jfpdaily.com.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.