FLORIDA — Crews from several Central Florida agencies are sending crews to those areas hit hardest by Hurricane Idalia — Levy, Dixie, Taylor and Jefferson counties to help with recovery operations.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach, Fla. at about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, as a Category 3 storm with top estimated winds of 125 mph. According to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, no major hurricanes since records began in 1851 had tracked into Apalachee Bay. A landfall there is unprecedented in modern times.

Among those crews stepping up is the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Mike Chitwood, 12 deputies who volunteered and five Edgewater police officers are sending a strike team to Perry in hurricane-ravaged Taylor County for a week.

They are bringing resources like armored vehicles, air-boats, generators and other heavy equipment to help with rescues and clean-up efforts.

"The good Lord spared us, and now it's our turn to return the favor," Chitwood said.

Jodi Tillman, the director of Big Bend Technical college in Perry and the mother of one of the Edgewater officers, is going to house and feed the deputies during their stay. Her school sustained some damage from the hurricane, and 100-year-old trees were uprooted.

"It means a lot," Tillman said. "It's a small, rural county. They're overwhelmed. There's been so much devastation."

Chitwood said he has another team on standby should the help be needed into a second week.

Many groups of first responders being deployed to help are organizing at the FEMA Incident Command — Resource Staging and Deployment Area, which is operating out of the Orange County Convention Center.

“The main focus is always human life and the preservation of human life," said Chris Swinson, assistant emergency manager for public information in the city of Coral Springs. "Everything that we own, our properties can be replaced, but there's no replacement for human beings. Right now, we're in the early aspects of a response right now, all about the human life, all about the preservation of that, all about making sure that we address vulnerable population.”

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is deploying an emergency self-contained rescue team to assist the Levy County Sheriff’s Office in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia.

Florida Fish and Wildlife is preparing to send officers and resources to different areas of the state for deployments following Hurricane Idalia.

The Region 5 Engine Strike Team from Brevard County  —  including members from Brevard County Fire Rescue, Melbourne Fire, Palm Bay Fire, Cocoa Beach Fire and Satellite Beach Fire — are deploying to North Florida. It includes engines and one district chief. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office is sending a team, too.

Orlando’s Utilities Commission is also sending a group of 18-20 utility workers to Tallahassee to help restore power. Michelle Lynch with OUC said, “All the utilities band together in times of need,” and that they are returning the favor, after Tallahassee assisted them in restoring power after Ian. 

Orange County Fire Rescue, Seminole Fire Rescue and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are also planning to help with Idalia recovery. 

On Thursday morning, 10 members of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office headed to the Big Bend area to help. The effort has been in coordination with the Florida Sheriffs Association and funded by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Back in July of this year, the Division of Emergency Management received $173 million from FEMA due to the organization's work after Hurricane Ian. Similar to the work back then, the division is coordinating new efforts with local sheriff's offices to lessen the burden on law enforcement in impacted areas.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has also deployed the Florida State Guard to assist in hurricane recovery in north Florida where Idalia had the biggest impact.