Butler County emergency team joins Hurricane Irma relief effort

Butler County rescue workers participate in a previous training exercise. As Hurricane Irma barrels down on the Florida coast, the Butler County Emergency Management Team is gearing up to head down there. STAFF FILE PHOTO

Butler County rescue workers participate in a previous training exercise. As Hurricane Irma barrels down on the Florida coast, the Butler County Emergency Management Team is gearing up to head down there. STAFF FILE PHOTO

As Hurricane Irma barrels down on the Florida coast, the Butler County Emergency Management Team is gearing up to head down there.

The group has received final confirmation from the federal government that they will be deploying Thursday morning, according to Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Matt Haverkos.

Sixteen members of the Incident Management Team from various local fire and police departments are part of the team, he said.

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“The mission would be that we would leave tomorrow and start working Friday afternoon at the state of Florida emergency operations center in Tallahassee,” Haverkos said. “We will handle local facets of the logistics ordering process for all the resources that will come into Florida after the disaster.”

The Butler County Emergency Management Team plans to be in Florida for 15 days. The state of Florida will reimburse the county for the cost, estimated at $15,000 a day, according to Haverkos.

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