Columbus Fire Lt Craig Mignogno, a member of , based in Dayton, is helping Louisiana residents recover from Hurricane Ida that struck yesterday. It鈥檚 one of many storms in his 22 years on the task force.
Mignogno said his team has worked west and south of New Orleans.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a major power outage here which is causing a lot of issues down here for folks, obviously, but as far as structural damage goes, as far as the number of large trees that came down on structures, it鈥檚 not bad,鈥� Mignogno said.
Mignogno's team is made up of more than three dozen Ohio firefighters and others will collect data on where the damaged structures and blocked roads are located and send it to the command post.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working for FEMA and on behalf of FEMA, but ultimately we work for the state of Louisiana and once we get here it鈥檚 up to them how much and how long they want our services,鈥� he said.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans after the levees broke. Less than a month later, Hurricane Rita struck the area. Mignogno responded to that destruction.
鈥淭hat was far worse,鈥� Mignogo said. 鈥淣o two storms have ever been the same as long as I鈥檝e been doing this. We try to have a game plan for all possibilities, by water, by vehicle and by foot.鈥�
One of the battles for his team is to stay hydrated since the Louisiana heat can take a toll, he said.
鈥淭his is a team with a great amount of experience both in doing this kind of work and in their fire department jobs,鈥� Mignogno said. 鈥淓verybody knows how to take care of one another if we get to that point and we know how to work through it.鈥�
