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4d ago

California Sends LA County Search-and-Rescue Team to Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa

The 34-person unit will operate for two weeks alongside Fairfax County’s USA-1 under a self-sufficient mission.

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An election worker delivers mail-in ballots to workers who will examine and verify the ballots to prepare them for tabulation at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders’ mail-in ballot processing center at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, October 28, 2020. – Officials relocated mail-in ballot processing to the expansive location due to the need for COVID-19 social distancing for the ballot workers and the large number of mail-in ballots. While the tabulation of votes cast for Donald Trump and Joe Biden will begin when polls close on November 3 at 8pm, envelopes are now being sorted and signatures and ballots verified to expedite the tabulation process on November 3. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • Governor Gavin Newsom authorized deployment of Los Angeles County Fire Department’s USA-2 to support life-saving operations in Jamaica.
  • The team fields four search canines, about 42,000 pounds of equipment, and specialists including firefighters, paramedics, a physician, and structural engineers.
  • CBS reports the U.S. State Department mobilized the LA County team for the international response.
  • Fairfax County’s USA-1 is activated for Jamaica, forming a coordinated U.S. Urban Search and Rescue presence with international qualifications.
  • Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica as a Category 5 with 185 mph winds, triggering severe flooding and landslides, and local reports say at least four people were killed.