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Water pushes against the Industrial Canal levee wall Monday as Hurricane Gustav strikes New Orleans.
HURRICANE GUSTAV
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Ohio Crews To Help With Search Efforts

Search-And-Rescue Team Heads To Region

POSTED: 10:32 am CDT September 1, 2008

Ohio Task Force One received the call Friday morning that it was deploying to the Gulf Coast to help with recovery efforts following Hurricane Gustav.

More than a dozen Ohio firefighters, including a pair from Lebanon, are part of an 80-member team that responds to emergencies such as 9/11, tornados and hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina three years ago and Gustav this year, Cincinnati television station WLWT.

"This eerily looks the same as Katrina, with another one on its heels like Rita, so we're kind of looking at the same scenario," said Scott Hall of Ohio Task Force One.

As the urban search and rescue team packs for their latest mission, members said they hoped Hurricane Gustav doesn't become a Category 5 storm, but the crew said they would be ready when they arrive in Alabama.

It made landfall Monday morning as a Category 2 storm.

"They put us 100 to 125 miles inland from where the storm may hit, the projected area, and we may move three or four more times in the process," Hall said.

The task force was expected to immediately go into the hardest hit areas with search cameras and sonic devices to help find victims among debris after the storm passes.

"That's our primary focus, is to find live viable victims in the early stages," Hall said.

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