Harvey: New Jersey sends Hurricane Sandy search and rescue teams to Texas
New York City is also sending an experienced team to help with recovery efforts
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Your support makes all the difference.New Jersey and New York City have dispatched search and rescue teams to Texas who have experience with Superstorm Sandy.
Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on the Gulf of Mexico coast on 25 August, has dumped up to 40 in (102 cm) of rain in some areas and flooded several parts of the Houston metropolitan area.
In 2012, the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and southern New York were slammed with Sandy and received aid and rescue help from several states and the federal government.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was particularly appreciative of the help and announced that NJ Task Force 1, comprised of police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel - are in Katy, Texas, a suburb approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) west of Houston.
"As Americans, we come together during times of crisis and today New Jersey’s heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the people of Texas at this very difficult time...During superstorm Sandy, emergency and law enforcement response contingents from around the country came to our aid," Mr Christie said in a statement.
The team - part of the National Urban Search & Rescue Response System - were originally supposed to go to San Antonio, Texas but have been re-routed due to road closures.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is also sending 120 emergency personnel to Texas from the Fire Department's Incident Management Team and the Urban Search and Rescue Rapid Response Team.
“We are set up for all types of rescues, including swiftwater rescues. We have a compilation of tools that include boats, motors, dry suits, rescue equipment for collapsed structures, rope equipment for confined spaces, and a large compilation of Haz-Mat equipment and tools," said the Fire Department's Jack Flatley who leads the team.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also deployed the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York National Guard to Texas and Louisiana with boats, helicopters, and personnel.
Members of the so-called Cajun Navy, a group of Louisiana civilians with experience during the deadly 2005 Hurricane Katrina, made the journey to Texas with their small boats and watercraft and have made several rescues to assist overwhelmed local authorities.
After Sandy, 20 Republican members of Congress and both Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were against the 2013 Congressional relief package for victims of the disaster in the New York and New Jersey area.
Much of the devastation of Harvey will have to wait to be assessed until unrelenting rainfall stops, but it is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in American history. Much of the damage has ocurred outside of a flood insurance zone, prompting the need for another relief package vote when Congress comes back into session in early September.
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