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LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Florida is going to need help cleaning up from Hurricane Irma, and Missouri officials are answering the call.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is sending a Strike Team down south Monday.

Eight maintenance workers from the Kansas City District will join dozens of other MoDOT workers on the trip to Florida. Their job will be to clear the roads of debris so other emergency vehicles can get to those in need.

They will be prepared to deal with whatever types of emergency situations they run across in Florida. The Strike Team will be self-contained: they will have their own tents, cots, meals, water and fuel to last them about two weeks.

The Kansas City team will consist of eight maintenance workers from Cass County and Johnson County, Missouri, and they will be taking four vehicles with them including a backhoe and chain saws.

They have not decided exactly which city they will go to just yet, but on the way down they will be performing a “cut and throw” operation. That means they will be clearing debris from the roadways as they come across it.

They will have a safety briefing Monday morning in Warrensburg and then meet up with other MoDOT crews in Sikeston, so they can all make the trip together.
Right now they are planning to stay down in Florida for at least two weeks – maybe even longer – and they will eventually be relieved by other workers.

Of the eight KC District workers going to Florida, two of them will be mechanics so should they run across any mechanical problems, they will be able to fix it themselves.