Hurricane Irma: Fairfax County Team Heads To Caribbean, Florida

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA—After Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean and Florida, Fairfax County's first responders are providing aid to areas devastated by the storm.

Chuck Ryan, an assistant fire chief with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, said in an update Tuesday around 60 Virginia Task Force 1 members headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, 40 to the U.S. Virgin Islands and another group to the Florida Keys. The team has conducted search and rescue efforts over the past few days as the storm moved through.

The VA-TF1 team, which includes 80 Fairfax County first responders left Friday was stationed at Robins Air Force Base near Macon, Ga. before heading to areas hit by the storm. The team was activated Wednesday, a day after some of the first responders had just returned from Texas, during Hurricane Harvey rescue operations. The VA-TF1 team includes swiftwater trained personnel with equipment, a search and rescue team and rescue dogs.

Watch: A Shaken Caribbean Turns To Recovery After Irma's Destruction

The storm made landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm. In the Keys, drinking water supplies were cut off, fuel was running low and all three hospitals in the island chain were shuttered. FEMA estimates that about 25 percent of the islands' homes were completely destroyed and another 65 percent have major damage.

At its worst, Irma tore through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm. Two days after the storm hit the Keys, search-and-rescue teams made their way into the Florida Keys' farthest reaches while residents of islands closest to the mainland were allowed to return. More than 40 are dead—at least eight from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, and dozens from the Caribbean. Millions of Florida residents remain without power as of Tuesday afternoon.

How can you help?

Lots of charities and organizations are offering assistance in many forms to the victims of Irma. Find the one you'd most like to donate to and give what you can. There are tons more on Charity Navigator.

• Team Rubicon
• American Red Cross
• All Hands
• Volunteer Florida
• South Florida Wildlife Center
• Brigid's Crossing Foundation
• Global Giving

Image of Florida Keys by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Associated Press