Local News

Local Task Force Training In Tenn. When Storms Hit

BEVERLY, Mass. (WBZ) ― Members of a local task force found themselves in the middle of the treacherous storms in Tennessee this week.

Anita Arnum knew exactly what to do -- move her team out of harms way of the deadly twisters.

"We were in place and the storm passed over, and we saw the event from beginning to end," Arnum said. "The second round tornados came through when we were at the hotel."

Members of the Massachusetts task force 1 based in Beverly were in Memphis for the past week as part of a disaster training program.

Arnum said she was instructing her class when the storms hit.

"And as we were working, all of the tornado sirens in the area went off," she said.

Typically, the task force arrives after a storm hits, but this time they found themselves right in the thick of things.

"Tennessee is still trying to assess how many building were collapsed and how many occupied structures," Arnum said. "There were a number of injuries as well as fatalities."

"Fortunately, Arnum and her four member team had their gear in place as part of their training program. But never did they think they would find themselves in a real life situation on Tuesday.

"Most of the people are fairly mentally prepared for this," said Mark Foster.

Foster said disasters can happen anywhere at anytime.

A task force from Tennessee did help in the rescue effort, while Arnum's team remains on stand-by.

"They did mobilize and go out to some locations in the area and performed rescues some were fairly significant and gave them an opportunity to utilize their skills and come back to the classroom and share that information with the students," Arnum said.

The five-member Massachusetts Task Force team will continue their training program and remain in Memphis until the end of the week.

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