While folks in Florida batten down the hatches to prepare for Tropical Storm Helene, 80 Fairfax County first responders are driving through the night to be there when the storm hits. FOX 5's Katie Barlow joined the team as they prepared to ship out.

Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott deployed Texas A&M Task Force 1 to the Sunshine State. The Task Force is one of 28 federal teams under FEMA’s National Urban Search and Rescue System. Headquartered in College Station, it’s one of two statewide search-and-rescue teams under the direction of the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

VA-TF2 has frequently been activated to assist with natural disaster relief, most recently in August while assisting emergency responders in Georgia and South Carolina respond to Tropical Storm Debby. They went to Florida last year to help respond to Hurricane Idalia, a category 4 storm.

An Indiana task force will respond to a tropical storm expected to hit Florida and the southeastern United States later this week.

Florida residents are already evacuating and filling sandbags days ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Helene, which is forecast to rapidly intensify into a hurricane.

Florida is bracing for a storm that is expected to strengthen into a major Category 3 by the end of the week. Residents are stockpiling essentials and officials are urging people to evacuate when alerted.

Ohio Task Force 1 has been activated due to the potential for Tropical Storm Helene to become a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.