Southland Crews Helping With Harvey, Now Rerouted To Hurricane Irma Efforts

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA – Even as some Southland firefighters and other first responders return from being deployed to Texas to help with the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort, more than 70 Los Angeles Fire Department members were being sent Wednesday from the Houston area to Alabama in advance of approaching Hurricane Irma.

The firefighters, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's California Task Force 1, were originally deployed to Texas on Aug. 27. The team includes doctors, K-9 handlers, water rescue specialists and hazardous materials experts, according to the LAFD's Peter Sanders.

The Task Force was demobilized on Tuesday and began making plans to return to Los Angeles before being rerouted to Alabama, Sanders said.

In the Houston area, they worked with other FEMA teams and local and regional agencies, making rescues of people, pets and livestock from flooded communities, Sanders said.

California Task Force 1 was due to arrive in Alabama by midnight today, he said.

Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm ever recorded, had weakened somewhat after tearing through the Caribbean Wednesday night and this morning, leaving a swath of devastation and death in her wake. Still a Category 5 storm, Irma has been blamed for at least 10 deaths so far. Although Irma's path shifted east somewhat, the storm was still following a path that may have dire implications for Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas in the coming days.

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--City News Service and Sherri Lonon contributed to this report/Graphics courtesy of National Hurricane Center