A team of U.S. Border Patrol Grand Forks (North Dakota) Sector agents recently were deployed along the East Coast in the areas impacted by Hurricane Florence to assist with support, response, and recovery.
The Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue team (BORSTAR) is part of the team. BORSTAR is the only national law enforcement search and rescue group with the capability to conduct search and rescue as well as tactical medical training for government agencies.
Hurricane Florence made landfall last week. Approximately 500,000 homes and businesses are still without power and at least 32 people have died. The storm has caused an estimated $17 billion to $22 billion in damages.
North Carolina and South Carolina have been declared major disaster areas.
“Not only are you going to see more impact across North Carolina, particularly from the central to the western area, dumping copious amounts of rains, but we’re also anticipating you are about to see a lot of damage going through West Virginia, all the way up to Ohio as the system exits out,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long said Sunday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also has deployed 71 teams and more than 2,000 personnel. FEMA is working with federal, state and local governments.