A Rescue and Recovery plan for Hurricane Rita includes two search and rescue teams in Homestead. They consist of 60 Miami firefighters and 70 state law enforcement officers. 2400 National Guardsmen are mobilized and an additional 2000 are on alert. State Emergency Operations Manager Craig Fugate describes the plan.

“Reestablish communication, life safety and security, get commodities in there if needed, get the infrastructure rebuilt and get the keys open for business again. And that’s our battle drill.”

The hospitals need to be reopened and power restored. If the roads aren’t passable or the approaches to the many bridges along the island chain are eroded - six Blackhawk and one Chinook helicopter are staged in West Palm Beach—ready to help ferry in rescuers and repair crews. Fugate says the Florida National Guard plans to take a Humvee with satellite communications all the way down US 1 to guage damage.

“And they’re literally going to start driving as the winds start to decrease from Florida City. Their mission is to drive all the way to mile marker zero. They’ll be the first units to report that the road is open. If they come across any areas that are not passable then that will be the mission message that starts the aviation assets moving.”

There are 114 trucks of ice and 229 trucks of water on stand-by.