OHIO, USA — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has activated the Ohio National Guard to support the state of Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton's landfall.
“As Florida recovers from one hurricane and braces for another, Ohio is answering the call to help Governor DeSantis and the entire state," said DeWine. "Forty members of the 200th REDHORSE Squadron are proactively heading to Florida in advance of what is expected to be another catastrophic storm."
The Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer (REDHORSE) is a civil engineering unit of the Ohio Air National Guard based in Port Clinton.
DeWine's office said airmen from the unit will conduct assessments of needed support, help clean up storm debris from public property and provide recovery and relief operations in "hard-hit" areas when they arrive in Florida.
“Ohio continues to be ready to help our fellow states in a time of need,” said Major General John Harris Jr., Ohio adjutant general. “The 200th REDHORSE Squadron is trained to provide a highly mobile, rapidly deployable, civil engineering response force that is self-sufficient to perform heavy damage repair.”
According to DeWine's office, Florida requested this assistance from Ohio under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
Last week, DeWine deployed more than a dozen airmen and soldiers to North Carolina following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.