The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) plans to send support to Florida as expected Category 3 Hurricane Ian bears down on the Sunshine State.
“As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Ian, Tennessee emergency service professionals are traveling to the area to help the state prepare and to provide support after the storm,” said Governor Bill Lee (R) in a press release. “We are proud of men and women who have stepped up to represent the Volunteer State and provide critical, life-saving services to Floridians in need.”
The TEMA team includes 37 “ambulance strike teams” who will deploy to Florida for 14 days.
Today, 35 ambulance strike team members departed Tennessee to provide support to Florida ahead of #HurricaneIan. The teams will provide critical life-safety services to those in need. Thank you for your service and we wish you a safe mission! #TNVolunteers #EMAC pic.twitter.com/PgAUYQNx1O
— T_E_M_A (@T_E_M_A) September 26, 2022
The agency is part of the Tennessee Department of Military.
Participating EMS and fire departments include the following:
- Williamson County EMS
- American Medical Response Blount County
- Anderson County EMS
- Madison County Fire Department
- TN Department of Health – Office of EMS
- Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department
- Medical Center EMS
- Sumner County EMS
- Rutherford County EMS
- Metro Moore County EMS
- Metro Moore County EMA
- Maury Regional Medical Center
- Maury County EMS
- Giles County EMS
- Nashville Fire Department
- Stewart County EMS
“I commend our emergency service professionals for again answering the call to help those in need. Their dedication and service will be critical in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian,” said TEMA Director Patrick Sheehan. “Tennessee is a leader in volunteering to supporting [sic] other states with mutual aid and we are proud to provide these vital capabilities to our neighbors in Florida.”
Current hurricane models predict that Hurricane Ian will make landfall just south of Tampa Bay on Wednesday night.
The expected Category 3 storm would be the strongest to hit the area in over a century. Tampa Bay is uniquely positioned and typically avoids the impact of major storms, unlike other metro areas in Florida.
Tampa received some good news as the storm shifted eastward Tuesday, and at the time of publication, the city was not facing direct impact.
11 am TUESDAY #Ian update: As expected, @NHC_Atlantic moved track south of Tampa. Surge for Tampa 5-8 feet (and remember possible anti-surge), this track much worse for Venice, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers. Surge warnings 8-12 feet : Middle of Longboat Key to Bonita Beach. pic.twitter.com/BpYachs2dB
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) September 27, 2022
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “TEMA” by TEMA.
