“The way I describe it is like 1,000 tornadoes going through Butler County at the same time,” Emergency Management Agency Director Matt Haverkos told the Journal-News. “We would literally drive for an hour and there was constant trees down, all the utilities were down, over 90 percent of the utilities were out.”
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Haverkos said the team was hands on, working 24/7 in shifts distributing food, water and fuel, organizing volunteer efforts and establishing shelters.
He said they went on reconnaissance missions finding suitable areas in Bay County to set up shelters for the thousands of people who lost everything.
“We had to actually do some physical recon of the area to determine suitable locations, establish base camps,” he said. “So we set up large tents to build practically warehouses so folks could get the resources.”
Haverkos said another team has replaced them in Florida and it will be “years” before those impacted by Hurricane Michael can fully recover.
Ross Twp. Fire Chief Steve Miller commanded the county’s unit in Florida. He said when they first arrived in Tallahassee they thought their mission would be logistical in nature. Instead, he said, they were asked to go to an area that was particularly hard hit.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the men on this team for handling that task,” Miller said. “We’ve never really done such a thing in all of our deployments. And those guys just took those tasks and ran with it. They did an outstanding job.”
Haverkos said the mission took a particular toll — witnessing utter devastation — when one of the local firefighters from the area they had been working in lost his life during rescue efforts. He said there were crisis counselors on hand throughout and they tried their best to help in that regard as well.
“One of the things we did as well was make sure that we were compassionate with the folks there and made sure we took the opportunity help them out as best as we could,” he said of the local rescuers. “So that they could get through this to start rebuilding their lives as first responders down there.”
This was Middletown Fire Captain David VonBargen’s fifth deployment with the Incident Management Team, and he said he is “proud” to be part of the team.
“The leadership at the state level for this emergency recognized this team and placed us in the most critical needs at that time,” he said. “They remember the work done during Hurricane Irma. I believe the team has responded again showing the ability and value of the Butler County IMT.”
The local jurisdictions that give up their personnel to help in these disasters say they reap the rewards of the intense training the team members receive. Phillip Clayton, Ohio EMA Southwest Regional Disaster Services Supervisor, said he was extremely proud of the job the local team did and also praised their respective governments for having the foresight to allow their participation.
“The individual jurisdictions that support the team members truly embrace the emergency management enterprise as well as cost effective coordination and collaboration and should be commended for contributing to a culture of local resiliency here in Ohio,” Clayton told the Journal-News.
Staff writer Ed Richter contributed to this report.
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