Apex, Morrisville rescue teams to deploy to western North Carolina before remnants of Ida hit
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Ida continues its path across the Southeast and some western parts of the state are bracing for impact.
The region is still devastated by Tropical Storm Fred which killed at least five people and knocked out more than 20 bridges because of catastrophic flooding.
"What firefighters do so well is to step up to the plate," said Keith McGee, chief of the Apex Fire Department.
McGee got the call Monday night that a team of rescue workers was needed.
"The ones going on a deployment are leaving their families and they are going to be deployed for whatever the time frame is," McGee said.
In total, nine people will be going with four boats.
Five crew members will come from Apex and four from Morrisville.
"It's truly a team effort for whether you are deployed or not," Chief McGee said. "It takes everybody to make this work to protect our citizens which we are required to do."
Apex said they will be staffed appropriately to keep everyone in the town safe.
Chief McGee admitted it's even more of a challenge with COVID to do the deployments like this.
"If they were to call and ask, North Carolina would respond," said Battalion Chief Michael Beasley, referring to the operation in Louisiana for Ida.
Chief Beasley said North Carolina is good about watching the storm and deciding where to send crews and trying not to pull from areas impacted by the storm itself.
The team is likely to be gone for two to three days but they'll be prepared for two weeks.
