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Hatzalah of Houston makes trek to Florida for Milton
FOX 26 Reporter Abigail Dye spoke with David Fishman, President and Founder of Hatzalah of Houston, and his team, who made the trek to Florida to help with Hurricane Milton recovery.
HOUSTON - Governor Greg Abbott has deployed hundreds of personnel and resources to help with hurricane response and some Houstonians have taken it upon themselves to head to Florida and assist.
At the Governor’s direction, the following state resources have been activated by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM):
- Texas National Guard: Military aircraft including Blackhawks and Chinooks to assist with urban search and rescue, transportation of personnel and supplies, and extraction efforts
- Texas Department of Public Safety: Over 180 state troopers and law enforcement personnel, including command vehicles and communications platforms; helicopters with hoist capabilities and Texas Highway Patrol Tactical Marine Unit to support flood rescue operations
- Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1): Rescue swimmers to assist Texas National Guard aircraft with flood rescue operations
"Our task is to go out and look for people who are missing or who may be trapped," said Houston Fire Department Captain Beau Moreno. He's a rescue specialist for Texas A&M Task Force 1.
For the past 15 days, he and his 80-person team have been sleeping on a cot, helping with the response to Helene, and now is staged in Florida waiting out the storm and ready to respond with search and rescue efforts to Milton.
Some Houstonians are volunteering their time to respond, like David Fishman, president and founder of Hatzalah of Houston. The organization is a volunteer, donation-based licensed EMS Provider in Houston. All of the volunteers are licensed EMS personnel and paramedics.
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Four volunteers, David Fishman, Joseph Fried, Joseph Eber, and Eli Litvintchouk traveled to Florida together to brave the storm and help those who need it.
As of Wednesday night, they are stationed in Orlando ready to move closer to the coast to help with recovery efforts once the storm passes.