BOONE COUNTY, Mo. — After weeks of helping Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina, members of the Missouri Task Force 1 (MO-TF1) are returning home this week.  

What You Need To Know

  • The 16-member Water Rescue Mission Ready Package (MRP-WR), which was deployed on Sept. 27, arrived back at Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters Thursday around 11 a.m.

  • MRP-WR assisted in the rescue and recovery operations during the flooding and water-related challenges caused by the hurricane

  • MO-TF1’s Type III team, which was deployed on Sept. 25, will be the final group to return on Friday around noon.

  • Three Human Remains Detection (HRD) K9 teams returned Wednesday afternoon to the Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters, which helped in search and recovery efforts

The 16-member Water Rescue Mission Ready Package (MRP-WR), which was deployed on Sept. 27, arrived back at Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters Thursday around 11 a.m.

“The people of North Carolina were great,” said Chuck Doss, planning team manager for MO-TF1, noting that the residents asked the emergency responders if they needed anything.

“They’re very welcoming and it was a good experience,” he added.

MRP-WR assisted in the rescue and recovery operations during the flooding and water-related challenges caused by the hurricane.

“We definitely made a difference,” Doss said. “We helped the citizens of North Carolina and had a big impact.”

As soon as they arrived in North Carolina, the team rescued an individual who was trapped in their house, which had swept off a hillside.

During their deployment, the team also conducted wide-area searches in neighborhoods, looking for victims to be rescued and assessing damage, Doss said.

Near the end, the team searched debris for any victims with Human Remains Detection K9s and tore the debris piles down.

Doss said the debris piles can be very dangerous because they do not know what are in them.

“They can be very unstable; hard to work around,” Doss said. “We take our time. Very slow, very methodical in removing those and those down to the ground.”

Doss has a wife and three daughters. He said being deployed for nearly three weeks was tough, missing sporting games and school field trips.

With cell towers down, the team had to establish a way to communicate with their families back home.

For Doss’ family to hear and see him, made the deployment a little bit easier, he said.

The team stayed in the gymnasium of a church and a conference center up in the mountains.

The different terrain in North Carolina made traveling more difficult.

“We were a little more careful with inspecting the equipment and making sure everything was in good shape,” Doss said. “The rescue squads did a lot of walking (for) a couple of days through some very difficult terrain.”

He mentioned that the mud from the landslides and flooding also made it difficult for rescues squads to work in.

MO-TF1’s Type III team, which was deployed on Sept. 25, will be the final group to return on Friday around noon.

Three Human Remains Detection (HRD) K9 teams returned Wednesday afternoon to the Boone County Fire Protection District Headquarters.

Those teams were deployed on Oct. 1, along with four other HRD K9 teams, to help in search and recovery efforts.