Lexington company sends large team to help prepare for Hurricane Ian

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Emergency Disaster Services is en route to Florida from Lexington to help ahead of Hurricane Ian’s impact.

While the hurricane’s track still has some uncertainties, this isn’t the group’s first hurricane and they know the time to prepare is now.

Matthew Daley with Emergency Disaster Services says 1,000 workers are on their way to southern Georgia, ready to set up base camp before ascending to Florida once Ian arrives.

“Mission number one will obviously be to work with our utility partners there in the Florida area to service them in the sense of providing them a base camp service for the many many folks around the country that will ascend into Florida,” Daley said.

Once they are able to grasp a more firm path of the storm, and whether the damage looks to be more flood-related versus wind-related, is when they will be able to deploy a longer-term plan of action.

“What we have witnessed as a disaster logistics firm is the most dangerous time is after the storm. It is not necessarily when the storm hits. It’s when people feel the need to start repairing roads and fixing their own personal property,” Daley said.

In that case, it’s important to let the first responders and other aids do their job without interruption.

“When we see a storm event is ready to happen, regardless of location in the country, we pre-deploy an advanced team in the country,” Daley said. “We typically wait out the nasty stuff, what it has to throw at the area and then we move in.”

Their first mission will be to assist utility companies after the storm before pivoting to assisting FEMA with their needs.

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