RELATED: Butler County relief team to battle Hurricane Irma
As several vehicles turned into 1810 Princeton Drive just after 5 p.m. today, loved ones responded with applause and cheers.
The team aided relief efforts from the state’s main command post in Tallahassee and further south in the state in areas hardest hit.
The Butler County team coordinated the efforts of 28 other Incident Management Teams from around the country, deploying them to 50 missions.
Matt Haverkos, director of the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, said the governor of Florida acknowledged that response from outside communities, like Butler County, were vital to dealing with the devastation.
“In his words there was not enough resources in the state of Florida to help and there was not enough resources alone in the federal government to help, bringing in 28 state’s resources was I think key, in his words, to a quick response,” Haverkos said.
RELATED: Hurricane Irma put nation’s emergency response teams to test
Ross Twp. Fire Chief Steve Miller was part of the team deployed first to Hendry County near Fort Meyers and then to Lee County, where they coordinated the movement of more than 6 million pounds of materials — including fuel, meals and cleaning supplies — for people impacted by Irma.
Miller said when they first arrived, prior to the hurricane, they were hunkered down in the Hendry County emergency operations center.
“We got there two days before the hurricane approached and then Sunday afternoon the hurricane passed and we were inside the EOC which is a hurricane-proof building so we were safe,” Miller said. “Just witnessing the wind and the rain, I was expecting the worst. The day after we did some recon missions and I was really quite surprised there wasn’t more devastation.”
This was not the first time the team deployed to national disasters. As one of only a few accredited agencies in the state the IMT responded when hurricanes Irene and Sandy hit the U.S. in 2011 and 2012, respectively and other major events.
Staff writer Wayne Baker contributed to this report.
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