North Texas firefighters head south with Beryl approaching Texas coast
North Texas firefighters are standing by, ready to help our neighbors to the southf as Tropical Storm Beryl approaches.
A 7-man team, including four firefighters from Cedar Hill, two from Duncanville and one from DeSoto are staged in San Antonio right now, waiting to see where they need to go once Beryl makes landfall.
The crew could be there for as long as two weeks depending on how hard the area is hit.
On Friday, the Cedar Hill Fire Department got the call from state officials that their Ambus was needed to help those impacted by the storm.
The Ambus is equipped to transport 20 patients to or from a hospital or transport people to safer locations if evacuations are necessary.
"It’s our duty, it’s our responsibility to help one another," said Cedar Hill Interim Fire Chief Rafael Reyes.
The Cedar Hill Fire Chief told FOX 4 their Ambus was deployed during Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Laura.
While they are staged in San Antonio, the team is prepared to head farther south to help some of the most vulnerable populations, like those in nursing homes.
"We’re extremely grateful to be in a position where we can help. We want our guys to help, we want them to learn, we want them to bring back knowledge, but above all we want them to stay safe and keep people safe," said Reyes.
This afternoon in Austin, lieutenant governor and current acting governor Dan Patrick, along with the state's emergency management director emphasized the need for those in the coast areas of Corpus Christi to Galveston Island to get prepared for the storm today.
"You don’t want to be on the road tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a bad day for weather," Patrick said.
The tropical storm is expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane when it makes landfall in Texas early Monday morning.
The timing of the storm is a concern since so many are on vacation and enjoying the extended holiday weekend. State officials are asking people to take the storm warnings seriously and get out of harm's way if possible.
"Let’s pray nothing happens where you live, but something is going to happen where some of you live and that something will be significant rain, significant flooding and surge along the coast," said Lt. Gov. Patrick.
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The state's emergency management director said dozens of crews from local, state and federal agencies are prepared to immediately start the response and recovery efforts after the storm moves through.
"It’s a serious storm, you must take it seriously and be prepared," said Patrick.
There is a chance the storm's track could shift, so those farther inland and in the Houston area are also asked to prepare for a major wind, rain and flooding event.
Beryl is responsible for at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands last week.
Power outages are also likely because of the powerful winds.
People are encouraged to make sure they have enough supplies and check on family and friends who live in the areas that could be in the storm's path.