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18h ago

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

The State Department activated USA‑2 to work alongside Virginia’s USA‑1 on a self‑sufficient two‑week 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

  • At Gov. Gavin Newsom’s direction, 34 Los Angeles County specialists with four canines and 42,000 pounds of gear deployed from LAX on a charter flight.
  • The team, known as USA‑2, will conduct technical search, extrication, recovery and initial medical stabilization in collapsed structures.
  • USA‑2 is joining Fairfax County’s USA‑1, which was mobilized by the U.S. State Department and has established operations in Jamaica, according to officials.
  • Both teams are equipped to operate independently for roughly two weeks while broader assessments and relief efforts scale up.
  • Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as a Category 5 storm with 185 mph winds, leaving severe flooding, widespread damage and unsettled casualty figures reported across outlets.