A search and rescue team from Tennessee has been deployed to Alabama ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Michael.
The Memphis Fire Department says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked Tennessee Task Force Type 3 to report to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
The department says a team of 80 firefighters, doctors, engineers and dog handlers departed Tennessee yesterday.
The task force will be responsible for wide-area and swift water search and rescue efforts.
More than 375,000 people along the Florida Panhandle were urged or ordered to clear out yesterday as Hurricane Michael rapidly picked up steam in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s now a Category 4 storm with winds of around 145 miles per hour and a potential storm surge of 13 feet.