Lexington-based company heads to Florida to help as Helene rolls in

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – “When people packed a bag, it was not the small bag. It was the big bag this time,” said Matt Daley.

Daley works with Emergency Disaster Services and is just one of those who packed the “big bag” to head to Tallahassee, Florida, along with his Kentucky crew to help out as Helene rolls in.

It’s far from the first time they’ve traveled like this to aid another state. They’ve done it three times for other hurricanes.

“In this year alone, there’s not been a storm event that EDS has not responded to. Sprinkled into that are natural wildfires in New Mexico flooding events that we’ve seen in both Louisiana and Texas,” said Daley.

He says a day on the job before a storm hits looks a lot like making sure their equipment is safe and preparing to respond as soon as possible. They’re modeling preparation tactics after Hurricane Ian.

“In 22, EDS responded with 14 base camps across the State of Florida, and we did that in seven days,” said Daley. “And this is going to be a similar deployment.”

Work after the storm looks like catering to the needs of Public Safety officials.

“People who are going to be responding, going door to door doing rescue recovery. All those people who do that really hard work. We have the honor of taking care of those folks,” said Daley.

While Daley and his crew don’t call Florida home, neither do many of those responding to this.

However, he says, it’s all part of the job, saying he knows Kentucky would get the same kind of help if they needed it.

“When I say bye to a utility person or a state official, it’s a temporary goodbye because we know it’s some point we’re gonna cross paths and another storm event another base camp,” said Daley.

Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.