Colorado team heads to coast to help Hurricane Florence aid effort

As Hurricane Florence threatens the coast, people all over North and South Carolina are packing up and getting ready to ship out, but some from Colorado are heading into the storm.

“Nothing you can do. You’re not going to stop that water, you’re not going to stop that wind. If you don’t get off, you’re going to be a casualty,” said one coastal resident.

But as residents gather their belongings and stock up on essentials, the Colorado Task Force One team is making the long trek to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face the storm head-on.

“We’re preparing for storm surge, people that didn’t evacuate, no infrastructure and access issues,” says Steve Aseltine with the task force.

The team is made up of paramedics, firefighters, structural engineers, physician, and even hazmat specialists.

Five of the 45-member team are from Colorado Springs.

“We’re certainly super proud of our people because they step up and go the extra distance not only to protect our community here, but they see the value and the skills they possess and that extra training they get, gets them up to a level that they can go to any place in the nation or the world and assist when we have these types of emergencies,” says Capt. Brian Vaughan with CSPD.

Battalion Chief Kevin Bird will be working on planning, while Capt. CJ Nauert will handle logistics.

Fred Salazar will be the with the medical team and both Ian Elliot and Capt. Bill Hull will help with rescues.