Missouri Crews Provide Sandy Aid
***UPDATE SATURDAY 10 P.M.***Missouri Task Force 1 has completed its mission in Long Beach, Long Island, New York. The team will spend Saturday night in Ft. Dix, New Jersey before being flown into New York City Sunday by chopper to continue search and rescue missions.In a Facebook post, the team says “all members are doing well and glad to be working.”***UPDATE FRIDAY 11:29 A.M.***Missouri Task Force 1 members posted the following update on their twitter account Friday morning: “Missouri Task Force 1 searching a 10×15 block area of Long Beach, Long Island, NY. Area was flooded by storm surge. Numerous trees and power lines down in the area with moderate damage to some residences. They also have a search team in Freeport, NY searching a small residential area. Seeing the same conditions…”***UPDATE WEDNESDAY 1 P.M.***Missouri Task Force 1 is currently traveling to Flushing, New York by ground to assist with several rescues in the area.***UPDATE WEDNESDAY 12 P.M.***Missouri Task Force 1 has been assigned to be a Rapid Response Force Package. Currently, they have two Chinook and six Blackhawk helicopters assigned to them if they should conduct a search and rescue mission in the area. Otherwise, they will be stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.The Heart of Missouri Red Cross announced two more volunteers will be deploying to New York and New Jersey. One will be a mass care feeding supervisor and the other will be a logistics and transportation manager.***UPDATE WEDNESDAY 7:48 A.M.***Missouri Task Force 1 has arrived in New Jersey. They got into the storm-ravaged state at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday morning. A briefing is set for 9 a.m. EST.***ORIGINAL STORY***Several Missouri agencies are heading to or in the Northeast Tuesday to help with restoration efforts after superstorm Sandy.Missouri Task Force 1 left for the East Coast around 2 a.m. Tuesday. The group, specialized in urban search and rescue, is headed to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. When they arrive, they will be given an exact deployment location.More than 400 Ameren Missouri employees are stationed along the East Coast to help the nearly 8.2 million people without power. So far, the crews have been removing trees blocking roads and beginning to put up electric poles.Half of the 400 employees are contractors, while the others are working linemen and logistics positions. Officials say the damage is some of the worst they have ever seen and people could be without power for more than a week.A dozen Columbia Water and Light linemen are currently in Cleveland, Ohio. The utility company says more than 50,000 customers there are without power.
