LOUISIANA (KDVR) — Colorado Task Force 1 is now on the ground in Louisiana to help with Hurricane Ida search, rescue and recovery efforts.
The task force is made up of specially trained first responders from all over the Denver metro area and the state.
Forty-five crew members packed their gear and departed Saturday morning for New Orleans. They drove 22-hours straight and reached just outside New Orleans Sunday evening. They hunkered down in a rec center gym Sunday night before hitting the ground for their mission on Monday morning.
While in Louisiana, Task Force 1 will be assisting other first responders in their mission of search and rescue and securing structures damaged by wind and flood waters from Hurricane Ida.
Task Force 1 members were also deployed in assist in search and rescue in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Volunteers from the American Red Cross from Colorado and Wyoming are also in the storm zone. About a dozen members arrived in Baton Rouge just before the hurricane hit and are helping to set up and run shelters for evacuees. The Red Cross says it will have volunteers deployed in Louisiana for 14 to 21 days.