INDIANAPOLIS -- Specialized first responders from Indiana's Task Force One are packing up to head to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria battered the island.
Over two dozen members of the task force team will be responsible for searching areas destroyed by the Category 4 hurricane. The full team is made up of more than 80 people, but only a smaller team was requested by FEMA to respond.
Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Wednesday morning.
The Category 4 storm hit the U.S. territory in the Caribbean with 155 mph maximum sustained winds. That wind speed only puts Maria 2 mph under Category 5 status.
Puerto Rico — which is home to about 3.4 million people — has been preparing for Maria. Prior to landfall, the island's governor tweeted that more 11,000 people and almost 600 pets were already staying in emergency shelters.
Prior to hitting Puerto Rico, the hurricane's outer eyewall sent high winds and rain over the U.S. Virgin Islands — which is still recovering from effects of Hurricane Irma.
Maria first made landfall as a Category 5 storm late Monday on the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. Dominica's governor reported "widespread devastation," and officials for both islands have confirmed at least eight people died.
Maria is the first Category 4 storm to directly hit Puerto Rico in about 85 years.
The 27 Indiana task force team members will be flying out to the island on Thursday and Friday, and are bringing specialized fly packs full of search and rescue equipment, water, food and communications gear.
Indiana Task Force One is one of 28 FEMA Search and Rescue teams stationed across the country, called in to help local and state first responders after a disaster strikes. The teams are made up of local firefighters, police officers and civilians.
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