VALDOSTA, Ga. — Emergency crews from out-of-state are coming to the assistance of residents in the path of Hurricane Irma.
At the state office building complex in Tallahassee, emergency vehicles lined up to gas up.
For the past several days, they've been moving patients out of Irma’s path.
Todd Spence is the coordinator of an emergency response team from Tennessee.
“We've been busy all night doing a lot of extracts from hospitals and nursing homes. Just to get people to higher ground to shelters,” Spence said. “We stopped last night about 3 a.m. Been busy all day. Going to eat and see what the storm brings.”
Spence said the crews are prepared to stay and lend a helping hand for the long haul.
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While emergency crews geared up Sunday night, some people who live along Florida’s Gulf Coast in the small community of Shell Point braced for a direct hit from Irma.
They're hoping it weakens considerably by the time it gets here.
“It started to scare me with gusts of 225 mph earlier in the week, but she seems to be weakening a bit and that is our prayer that she does, but the way the cone has it we may take it,” Jody Quick, Wakulla County Sheriff’s Deputy said.