Florida Communications Unit

The ESF2 team in Tallahassee is pictured earlier this week, prior to several Milton team members departing for home units. The field teams would like to thank DMS Bureau of Public Safety, FDEM telecommunications (Bob Little not pictured) our SWIC Roger Lord, and a two special shoutouts 🎤 Robert Lyons (FDLE) and Andy Pichs of Douglas County E-911 Georgia. Robert and Andy served in COMC role during this long activation. Both have decades of experience in telecommunications, field response, and as first responders themselves. Field efforts wouldn’t be possible without this team. The individuals pictured have been working around the clock since September 25th providing essential coordination and mission managment. Strike teams and equipment continue operating for the remainder of this week. #ESF2 #milton #helene Florida Division of Emergency Management FDLE

ASTRO the disaster dog- Sean Robert of the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue’s communications division is our strike team 1 leader and COML. Sean spotted a pup running in the highway in Dixie County on the first push in during Helene. Unable to find an owner and with no collar or tags, he rode with Sean during the initial assessments, came back to base camp and was coined “Astro”. Astro stayed with us at camp for a few days while we worked on finding his home best we could. He got a few shampoo baths, and all you can eat beef jerky. Astro, not having a chip, or any way to find an owner was shuttled out by our awesome support system at home, and several significant others worked to find him a new home thru the the Lake County Animal Shelter. Speaking of shelters, it is time to find yours NOW. Milton is a very dangerous storm and is approaching Sarasota and Bradenton, and will make landfall in Florida thru the night and into Thursday. #ESF2 #ASTRO

Helene was no match for these two 🥊 Shannon and Donna are the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) COML and Deputy COML, and keep the lines of communication open between the 8 or more USAR teams on the ground with resource and frequency coordination and information sharing to ESF2. It’s always great when we get to work with them. They’ll be stationed with the incident support team again for Milton and deployed right back out at a moment’s notice from their home departments, Orange County Fire Rescue and the North Bay Fire Control District. Milton is not good news for the entire Peninsula of our state, especially the west coast and Tampa Bay. To the locals, PLEASE take these warnings and local evacuation orders seriously! Finish your plan for Milton TODAY. #ESF2 #USAR #flsert #COML

Emergency power for communications facilities is a big part of our mission. Approximately 10 towable generators have been transported and connected at various locations along with refueling coordination. Lake County Sheriff's Office and Lake County Board of County Commissioners personnel are seen working assigned to Strike Team 2 on emergency power distribution during #helene in Horseshoe Beach, FL. ESF2 teams are now rushing missions to a close and are demobilizing. Florida’s #NorthCarolina strike team has also received immediate recall orders, as we prepare for #milton and are returning home today. Milton could impact the west coast as soon as Wednesday as it is forecast to approach as a major hurricane. #FLSERT #ESF2 Florida Division of Emergency Management

NORTH CAROLINA TEAM- Our North Carolina ESF2 EMAC team has checked in with an update: “We have successfully navigated to several remote mountaintop radio sites to survey, repair and work toward a larger goal to restore operational communications systems in western North Carolina. With many agencies coming into the area, we’ve setup VHF repeaters for search and rescue.” The team is surveying local nearby counties in the AOR, and assisting with a tower collapse that we see often in Florida. Up for tomorrow is assisting another local county with restoration of 911 and 7 digit dial lines. Travel to and from work sites is taking hours of work due to road clearing, fallen trees, washouts, and disappointing turn-backs in unpassable areas. Teams like ours from many states are working to help our fellow professionals in North Carolina around the clock. #ESF2 #FLSERT #NorthCarolina Florida Division of Emergency Management Nassau EM Nassau County Sheriff's Office Collier County Sheriff's Office Orange County Government

OPERATION BLUE RIDGE- One communications strike team has mobilized from North Florida to the hardest hit areas of North Carolina, in Avery County as part of Florida’s interstate assistance efforts. The team brings a mobile 911 center, a transportable P25 radio system, Starlink terminals, spare radios, generators, service capabilities and decades of communications experience. We’re on our way North Carolina! Florida Division of Emergency Management Collier County Sheriff's Office Nassau County FL Nassau County Sheriff's Office Orange County Government #helene #helpisontheway #ESF2 #COML #COMT

Communications unit personnel worked with Taylor County Gorvernment Sunday mobilizing a temporary towable tower site. The tower is taking the place of local infrastructure that failed during Helene’s passing. ESF2 Strike team 2 deployed the tower teamed with MARC3 personnel and are also providing cache radios for law enforcement and fire strike teams assigned to the county. ICT qualified personnel from regions 1, 3,4,5,6, and 7 currently make up the communications restoration and support efforts. #COML #COMT #flsert #helene

HELENE RESPONSE- Recieving clearance to mobilize early Friday morning, strike team 1 is fueled up and departed forward staging in Lake County. The team from Collier, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade County, is headed to help our neighbors in Taylor County with a team of 5 communications unit personnel (COML/COMT/ITSL), radio site on wheels and other specialized equipment. Collier County Sheriff's Office Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Miami-Dade County

Last week, Florida was invited to participate in the 2024 Central States Communications Exercise. A five person team was chosen to participate in functional exercise response activities with an equipment (loadout) that was selected, brought and deployed as if an actual incident. Three of our leadership staff were requested by CSCE and tasked as exercise staff, deputy operations chief and deputy incident commander for the exercise. CSCE holds the largest multi state public safety communications exercise in the US to date. This year 29 states were represented, federal agencies/teams, military, and vendor partners with a total of 315 participants. The round trip to CSCE at Quapaw, Okalahoma was approximately 2,300mi. Thank you to the Central States Communications Association for the invite!

FLCOMU presented to public safety practitioners and industry from around the nation last week at APCO International's #APCO2024 in Orlando. Check out our ESF2 response package static display, and clips from the disaster response roundtable with out teammates at Florida TERT. It turned to be a busy week with APCO and a real state deployment with #HurricaneDebby. Thanks to everyone who came by, and to Florida APCO for your support! #ESF2 #coml #APCO2024