Search and Rescue Task Forces activated for Hurricane Harvey

COLLEGE STATION – Texas Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) and Texas Task Force 2 search and rescue teams have been activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management and are prepositioned at an inland staging area in preparation for the landfall of Hurricane Harvey along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Each Task Force is comprised of 70-person teams and 10 support staff, along with equipment, watercraft and necessary supplies for conducting swiftwater search and rescue, wide area search and rescue, and collapsed-structure search and rescue, said Jeff Saunders, Director of TX-TF1, which is based in College Station.

The Task Forces are among the state resources activated by the Texas Governor’s Office to assist local jurisdictions in preparation, rescue and recovery efforts as Hurricane Harvey bears down on the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane.

Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a State of Disaster for 30 Texas counties in anticipation of the hurricane’s landfall in the Gulf Coast region.

About Texas Task Force 1

TX-TF1 is sponsored by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and has deployed over 100 times since 1997, including the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, Sept. 11th World Trade Center attack, and Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike. TX-TF1 can be activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management or as one of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) 28 sanctioned urban search and rescue teams.

Visit the Texas Task Force 1 Website: www.texastaskforce1.org/

Find Deployment Briefs of previous deployments.

Follow Texas Task Force 1 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/txtf1