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Virginia Task Force 2 arrives in Florida ready to help after Hurricane Matthew

Posted at 3:47 PM, Oct 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-07 17:32:51-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - It takes a very special group of people to leave their safe homes in a moments notice to enter into the unknown, but that is exactly with the 80 men and woman on Virginia Task Force 2 are doing .

"They don't know what they are getting into," explained Art Kohn of the Virginia Beach Fire Department. "You can bet that wherever they go, there will be no electricity, there might not be running water."

The team isn't thinking about the rough conditions left behind from Hurricane Matthew, they are only thinking about the people that will be impacted.

"We keep thinking what if it was me, what if it was us, I'd want someone to come help and that's what we do," said Kohn.

Virginia Task Force 2 left from Virginia Beach with only a few hours notice. They arrived in Lakeland Florida early Friday morning with all the necessary gear and equipment to help with storm aftermath.

Part of the task force's equipment consists of their own skills.

"They are the most highly skilled individuals at what they do. There are no better people in the country to do the stuff that the people on these teams," explained Kohn.

Although Matthew is still hitting Florida, the team is ready to be put to work, to help all those impacted by the storm.

"When these guys come you have the very best people to get grandma out of that collapsed building or to get spot out from under the rubble."

The team left Virginia Beach with a plan of staying in Florida for two weeks. They will readjust their plan depending on how hard Hurricane Matthew strikes.