Missouri Task Force 1 heading to Texas ahead of Hurricane Laura landfall

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri Task Force 1 will head to Texas on Tuesday to help with the response to Hurricane Laura.

The task force, one of 28 urban search and rescue teams in the country, was packing up Tuesday afternoon to send a 25-person water rescue team to College Station, Texas, task force program manager Chuck Leake said. The team is based at the Boone County Fire Protection District.

The process is taking longer than usual because task force members are being screened for COVID-19 before they go, Leake said. The team will leave Tuesday afternoon.

It wasn't known Tuesday how long the team will be needed. Leake said that depends on the intensity of the hurricane and how much help is necessary.

Laura strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday after hitting Cuba as a tropical storm. The storm's path is taking it toward Texas and Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center has issued warnings for coastal areas ahead of Laura's landfall, which is expected to happen late Wednesday.

The storm is expected to lash coastal areas of northeast Texas and western Louisiana with several inches of rain from Wednesday through Saturday.