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Nevada task force headed to Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian

Updated August 30, 2019 - 10:27 pm

A local 16-member task force trained in water rescue is traveling to Florida in preparation for Hurricane Dorian’s landfall.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has activated Nevada Task Force One’s “Mission Ready Package — Water,” which left the valley Friday night for Jacksonville, Florida.

The team is trained in “swift-water rescues,” according to Clark County.

The National Hurricane Center said the Category 3 storm is expected to strengthen into a potentially catastrophic Category 4 with winds of almost 140 mph and slam into the U.S. on Tuesday — nearly 10 mph faster and a day later than previously forecast.

The hurricane center’s projected track showed the storm hitting around Palm Beach County, the site of Mar-a-Lago. But predicting its course with any confidence this far out is so difficult that the “cone of uncertainty” on the map covered nearly all of Florida’s 500-mile coastline, with Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando all within the danger zone.

It’s unclear if the Nevada team will remain in Jacksonville, or how long the team is planning on staying in Florida. Jacksonville is about 290 miles north of Palm Beach County, and about 140 miles north of Orlando.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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