Beverly's MA Task Force 1 Sends More Ida Storm Support South

BEVERLY, MA — The Beverly-based Massachusetts Task Force 1 emergency response program deployed another team to help with search and relief efforts related to Hurricane Ida.

This past week, an 80-person team of structural collapse specialists, building engineers, swift water and standing water rescue personnel, EMTs, doctor and K9 handlers departed Beverly for the New Orleans area to help Gulf Coast first responders.

That team was delayed due to a lack of infrastructure and spent an extra night in Birmingham, Alabama, before arriving in Baton Rouge Tuesday night. The team began with briefings from the Incident Support Team in Louisiana and has been working in the region for the past two days.

On Thursday, a 16-member team was sent to New Jersey to help with similar efforts after nearly 10 inches of rain from Ida's remnants ravaged that area of the Northeast.

The program, which is managed through Beverly's Emergency Management Agency on behalf of the federal government, includes members from all New England states.

Last year, Task Force 1 sent a 25-person team to search for survivors and survey charred buildings amid the Oregon wildfires.

The Task Force was also the first of its kind deployed in response to the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

The Louisiana and New Jersey deployments are scheduled to last two weeks, but that those teams could remain longer or return home sooner depending on the needs of the region.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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