Lincoln sends search, rescue team to Texas
A 34-member Lincoln search and rescue task force has left for San Antonio in anticipation of Hurricane Dolly, which was upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday afternoon and was expected to make landfall Wednesday.
The Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department’s Urban Search & Rescue Task Force left Monday night to help local authorities prepare for and respond to potential storm-related disasters, said Deputy Chief Dean Staberg. The team includes drivers, canine handlers and firefighters from Lincoln and Omaha.
“In this case, I think they’re anticipating a large event with a major impact,” Staberg said.
Lincoln will not lose any emergency services capability while the task force is deployed, Staberg said. The federal government pays for the department to fill in for people responding to the storm.
At 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm’s center was about 110 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 9 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.
Emergency officials feared major flooding problems and urged coastal residents to prepare. Texas Gov. Rick Perry activated 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews.
Mindful of the disastrous evacuation before Hurricane Rita hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2005 — when far more people died from heat-related injuries and auto accidents fleeing the storm than from the severe weather — Perry also ordered 250 buses to be staged in San Antonio. He called on fuel teams to be ready to keep gas stations supplied and to help stranded motorists.
The Lincoln task force has responded to a number of disasters across the nation, including the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Hurricane Katrina and the tornado last year in Greensburg, Kan.
Most recently, the task force sent canine resources to Little Sioux, Iowa, to search for missing boy scouts after a June tornado there killed four boys.
Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
The Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department’s Urban Search & Rescue Task Force left Monday night to help local authorities prepare for and respond to potential storm-related disasters, said Deputy Chief Dean Staberg. The team includes drivers, canine handlers and firefighters from Lincoln and Omaha.
“In this case, I think they’re anticipating a large event with a major impact,” Staberg said.
Lincoln will not lose any emergency services capability while the task force is deployed, Staberg said. The federal government pays for the department to fill in for people responding to the storm.
At 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm’s center was about 110 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 9 mph. A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.
Emergency officials feared major flooding problems and urged coastal residents to prepare. Texas Gov. Rick Perry activated 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews.
Mindful of the disastrous evacuation before Hurricane Rita hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2005 — when far more people died from heat-related injuries and auto accidents fleeing the storm than from the severe weather — Perry also ordered 250 buses to be staged in San Antonio. He called on fuel teams to be ready to keep gas stations supplied and to help stranded motorists.
The Lincoln task force has responded to a number of disasters across the nation, including the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Hurricane Katrina and the tornado last year in Greensburg, Kan.
Most recently, the task force sent canine resources to Little Sioux, Iowa, to search for missing boy scouts after a June tornado there killed four boys.
Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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