For perhaps the last time for the next week, the 45 crew members of Virginia Task Force 1 are staying dry while they pack their equipment ahead of their deployment to Florida to help with response efforts for Tropical Storm Ian, which is expected to strengthen to a major hurricane by landfall.
On Saturday, Virginia Task Force 1 - made up of Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team members - packed up trucks and began their drive to Florida after FEMA activated them for Tropical Storm Ian response efforts.
Marc Campet, one of the rescue squad officers, said this would be his 13th such mission in the 11 hurricane seasons he has worked.
"We expect to see a lot of infrastructure damage, some lightweight structure damage, and some areas where there's flooding," Campet said.
It's not just buildings in harm's way.
Campet said they expect to find people in dire situations.
"We have a number of evacuees who need to be moved from an area of hazard to dry ground area, and also true rescues that occur from people tin the hazardous environment such as flooded roadways and streams that have gone over their banks," Campet said.
Tropical Storm Ian is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane, before losing strength hitting Florida.
Despite being forecasted to lose power, it's still expected to be a significant hurricane by landfall.
Campet said the damage brings about an emotional and mental toll, not just a physical one.
"We always put ourselves in their shoes and we act with the utmost empathy towards them," Campet said. "There are a lot of things that are difficult to see, but we are glad to go down there and do the job we've trained so hard to do."
Because the crews are expected to get to Florida before landfall, they are at a strategic advantage because they will get to act proactively, instead of just reacting to what's happening.
Still, Campet said they always have to prepare best laid plans out the window.
"Always be flexible, to understand that if this plan is not necessarily in the best place to move, to adapt and overcome," Campet said.