Forty-five members of the Massachusetts Task Force 1 returned home to the Bay State on Tuesday after being gone for 7 days assisting with catastrophic flooding in Vermont.
Parts of Vermont were underwater after more than half a foot of rain fell in a short amount of time.
Already full rivers swelled to near-record heights, and officials say it’s the worst flooding they’ve seen since Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
The FEMA team, which is headquartered in Beverly, conducted about 30 rescues of adults and children, while also rescuing four animals. The team assisted with numerous evacuations as well.
“I mean, this is one of the most recent deployments where we’ve had a substantial amount of rescues,” Safety Officer Leah Shatkin said. “And [MA Task Force 1] did an excellent job supporting substantial numbers getting to safer ground.”
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