TULSA, Okla. — As Hurricane Milton nears Florida's western coast more Oklahoma organizations prepare to assist once the storm hits.
It's doing what Oklahomans do: helping your neighbor. While Florida is not our direct neighbor, the call rang out, and our crews answered. "We are pretty excited about it. You know, we know it's potentially dangerous, but again, we got some pretty well-trained people, and we’re excited to get down here and help the Floridians," said Lieutenant A.K. Williams with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
They're waiting to get their orders from Florida Emergency Management teams but drove to be ready when needed.
Williams said the magnitude of this storm is not lost on them, ready to support local police once the hurricane makes landfall.
"Many of them will be affected by the event so we will be there to help fill the gap while they take care of their personal needs and really just back them up. As this is such a significant event," Williams said.
His team will help staff whatever area they end up covering. Those who are well-rested and ready to help can cover each shift.
This group is one of many dropping everything, taking the Oklahoma standard national.
2 News told you about other agencies also quick to action. Those included Mayes and County Emergency Managements.
His team is comprised of numerous different units from around the state.
"We’re different organizations. We have four from highway patrol, six from Oklahoma City Fire, one from Norman PD, one from Rogers County Emergency Management, two from Comanche County and one from Washington County Emergency Management," said Williams.
It's now their turn to give back after so many came to Oklahoma in April and May.
"It’s pretty impactful, we had the Florida Department of Emergency Management come to Oklahoma both to Sulphur and Barnsdall and they assisted us in those efforts. Assisted us managing in those events so it's been pretty rewarding being able to pay that back," said Lieutenant Williams.
While the tragic effects of tornadoes and hurricanes are similar, the storms differ.
"This difference obviously between our tornadoes are they blown up very quickly and they’re done very quickly. Whereas this is a marathon more than a sprint and will last much longer," Williams said.
He said even though they're used to dealing with tornadoes the training is universal for natural disasters.
This is why Oklahomans are proud of these first responders-quickly jumping to help.
"Well, it feels really good, but you know that’s what we’ve come to expect that’s the way it’s done in Oklahoma," Lieutenant Williams said.
The Oklahoma team arrived in Tallahassee on October 8, waiting to learn where they’ll head to next.
2 News will continue to follow their journey.
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