Chief Deputy Tony Dwyer said the sheriff’s office helicopter is already on scene in Greene County, at the request of the sheriff there.
“The primary mission right now is to get the helicopter up there and then utilize it for whatever they need,” Dwyer said. “Be it to move from one place to another in a fast way or just to get some aerial photos to decide where you need your assets placed so we’ll do that.”
Dwyer said they have offered any assistance — equipment or manpower for technical rescues and the like — but no secondary requests have come in.
INITIAL STORY:
Crews from the Butler County Emergency Management Agency were called out around midnight Tuesday to help with the aftermath of tornadoes that blew through the Dayton area.
County EMA Director Matt Haverkos said Montgomery County EMA ask the team to help the Red Cross set up shelters. The local crews were tasked with setting up two shelters.
RELATED: Butler County emergency team witnesses Hurricane Michael’s destruction
Around 4:30 a.m. Haverkos said they were asked to send members of the Incident Management Team.
“Throughout the night we helped them get the shelters up, they were taking busloads of people in and doing their thing,” he said. “Then early this morning we got a request from their county operations center to bring in some of our incident management support folks to essentially help them put together the long term plan.”
Haverkos said seven emergency responders headed to Dayton overnight, but they are prepared to send more crews if needed.
This is the second time in less than year Butler County crews provide disaster assistance. Last October, a team of 11 were tasked with supporting the human services coordinator at the county emergency command center on the Florida Gulf in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.
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TORNADO COVERAGE
• Miami Valley tornadoes: Widespread damage reported in Montgomery, Greene, Mercer counties
• DRONE VIDEO: Hara Arena roof blown off, Trotwood schools closed after tornadoes
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