TULSA, Okla. — Hurricane Milton has left thousands of Floridians in shelters after flooding and strong winds caused excessive damage to communities.
Upholding the Oklahoma Standard, Lieutenant David Hellums with the Oklahoma Higher Patrol said there are several organizations at the ready.
Slideshow: Hurricane Milton impacts felt across Florida
"We've got people from Oklahoma City Fire Department here, Comanche County, Washington County, Rogers County, and Norman PD," he said. "If we can come in and make a difference, that’s why we do what we do.”
Lieutenant Hellums and his crew are currently stationed in Tallahassee, but expect to be moved down south into affected areas.
He said the Oklahoma Higher Patrol will help with mitigating injuries and helping to restore important services needed to operate.
"We're an incident management team, so we will help emergency operation centers," said Hellums. "As far as mitigating injuries, getting services back online, we will come in and help them do that in the fastest, quickest and easiest way possible."
On the bright side, Hellums said the storm has not been as bad as previously thought.
"Everything else was pretty much on par for what they were expecting," he said. "The flooding is going to be the biggest issue."
Lieutenant Hellums said he expects him and his team to get an assignment in about 12 hours.
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