California Governor Schwarzenegger Announces California Rescue Crews Heading to Texas for Hurricane Dean

08/19/2007 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger announced today that members of California’s Urban Search and Rescue program are on their way to Dallas, Texas to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Dean along the shores of Texas. A total of 43 personnel are on their way with specialized equipment to support rescue operations. They will stage in Dallas until the storm arrives, then mobilize into the impacted areas.

“I want to make sure California does everything it can to help authorities in Texas as they prepare for the impact of Hurricane Dean,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “My Office of Emergency Services will continue to monitor the situation and stands ready to assist in deploying whatever other available resources it can to help Texas state officials and FEMA respond to and recover from this storm.”

Earlier this morning, under orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, California’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (US&R) #6 from the Riverside City Fire Department departed for a staging location in Dallas. The Task Force is comprised of 34 personnel and specialized equipment to help rescue victims trapped in structure collapses.

An additional 9 personnel from California’s US&R program are also headed to Dallas to serve on a National US&R Incident Support Team. The nine members are from the Los Angeles City Fire, Los Angeles County Fire, Orange County Fire, Riverside City Fire, Sacramento City Fire, and San Diego City Fire US&R task forces.

Hurricane Dean is currently a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 MPH moving West toward Texas, 505 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Fluctuations in intensity are forecast during the next 24 hours.

Source: California Governor

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