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NJ Task Force 1 Deploys To Florida Ahead Of Hurricane Irma

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- New Jersey has sent down its Task Force 1 crew to assist the state of Florida as it braces for Irma's wrath.

An 80 member team was dispatched within a few hours after FEMA asked for them.

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"We have medical doctors. We have K-9 handlers. We have engineers. We have fire and law enforcement," Laura Connolly with the state's Emergency Management Office told KYW Newsradio. "We're going down there primarily as a search and rescue team with those capabilities."

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And another crew of 80 is on standby to relieve them in two weeks, if needed. Some 100 members of the New Jersey National Guard are also down south awaiting word on where they might be deployed.

Task Force 1 sent a smaller crew of 18 to Texas to assist in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. That crew returned earlier this week.

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