Missouri Task Force 1 heads to Panama City; line workers in Tallahassee

UPDATE 1:55 P.M.: Six line workers from Columbia Water and Light arrived in Tallahassee, Florida, to help with recovery from Hurricane Michael on Thursday morning.

Water and Light spokeswoman Lissie Wade said the workers were staged in Montgomery, Alabama, while the storm hit and had difficulty reaching Tallahassee because of debris blocking roads.

More than 100,000 customers in Tallahasee were without electricity early Thursday afternoon, according to the city’s outage map.

ORIGINAL: Missouri Task Force 1 has been assigned to help with search and rescue efforts in Panama City, Florida, in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael on Thursday.

According to a Facebook post on the Boone County Fire Protection District’s page, MO-TF1 left Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, to help state and local assets in Panama City.

The 16-person Swiftwater Mission Ready Package will be joined by three other Mission Ready Packages from Indiana Task Force 1, Virginia Task Force 1 and Ohio Task Force 1.

The post also said that two more MO-TF1 members were deployed from Missouri to help the FEMA Incident Support Team in Pensacola, Florida. One member is being deployed as a situation unit leader, and the other a division group supervisor.

The two additional members left early Thursday morning.