Forty-five elite search-and-rescue specialists have been deployed from Las Vegas in a bid to save lives as the US Southwest braces for potentially catastrophic flooding.
Nevada Task Force 1, one of the nation’s 28 Federal Urban Search and Rescue teams, left early Monday in a Type 3 Water configuration equipped with multiple boat teams. The highly trained unit includes firefighters from the Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Henderson, along with civilian volunteers.
The team, the only federal urban search-and-rescue team to New Mexico, will remain deployed for up to two weeks as Hurricane Polo approaches Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Forecasters expect Polo to make landfall near hurricane strength before pushing torrential tropical moisture deep into the Southwest.
Authorities issued a Level 3 of 4 flood threat for parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, with a warning that flash flooding could become life-threatening.
Among the areas at risk are Santa Fe, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. Rapidly rising water in these areas can turn normally dry washes and roads into deadly torrents with little warning.
Clark County Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Brian O’Neal said the team was expecting heavy rain as it travelled through Arizona toward New Mexico. He wished the elite team “safe travels.”
The deployment comes just weeks after Nevada Task Force 1 helped battle the Hawk Fire near Reno. Their mission, this time, is different that could involve rescuing people from floodwaters and reaching communities cut off by rising water.
The moisture from Polo’s remnants combined with other tropical moisture and an approaching weather system amplified the threat, creating conditions favorable for intense rainfall across the Southwest.
