Missouri Task Force 1 arrives in Poplar Bluff
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri Task Force 1 was activated on Thursday to respond to expected flooding in southeast Missouri.
According to a news release, the team has been activated to help local authorities in flood-related emergency response operations on Friday.
Task Force 1 left Columbia just before 3 p.m., marking its first in-state deployment since 2019 in Jefferson City. It arrived in Poplar Bluff before 10 p.m. Its last deployment came last year when the team was sent to North Carolina following Hurricane Helen.
"The opportunity for deployment is more on a federal level than on the state level. But we are a state asset just like we're a federal asset," Assistant Fire Chief Gale Blomenkamp said.
The task force will include 48 members -- which includes the Disaster Situation Awareness and Reconnaissance team members that surveyed Pilot Grove on Wednesday -- two dogs, and more than 100,000 pounds of gear, including 11 convoy vehicles and boats.
Blomenkamp said one of the biggest challenges in emergency response is working in unfamiliar terrain, where landmarks that residents typically rely on may no longer be visible.
“Flooding is obviously a dangerous situation. So they've had tornadoes down there. They've had heavy rain. So we've got wind issues. We've got downed power lines, we've got downed trees, we've got flooding. So a lot of different hazards that our folks need to be aware of. And trying to work in an unfamiliar area is always difficult,” Blomenkamp said. “But then to work in a disaster area where the typical landmarks may not be, even if you're from that area, people get lost because they don't see the typical landmarks.”
The DSAR team is used for wide-area search and rescue, disaster mapping and providing real-time situational oversight, according to the release.
The team is expected to arrive in Poplar Bluff Thursday evening and be ready to assist on Friday.
The National Weather Service online river gauge map shows the Black River near Poplar Bluff is forecasted to hit major flood stage at 21 feet by Saturday night. The map shows it could hit the action stage at 12 feet as soon as Friday afternoon.
