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Colorado teams deployed to Florida to help with Hurricane Ian response

Crews from Colorado are distributing supplies, helping people displaced by the storm and restoring utilities.

DENVER — Teams from Colorado have been deployed to Florida to provide disaster relief to people impacted by Hurricane Ian. 

Tuesday morning, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) sent 13 public safety professionals who will provide emergency operations center support to Florida. They've been assigned to a logistics staging area in Ocala, where they will be responsible for receiving and distributing supplies for two weeks. 

On Monday, DHSEM also sent a logistics specialist to the Florida State Emergency Operations Center to help with Emergency Management Assistance Compact resource requests. 

Meanwhile, the American Red Cross' Colorado/Wyoming region has sent seven volunteers to Florida. They're primarily staging in the Orlando area until the storm moves through. Eight more volunteers are on standby. The organization and its partners are providing hundreds of shelters across Florida.

Nationally, about 500 American Red Cross workers are staged in Florida to support sheltering and relief efforts. 

Credit: American Red Cross

Xcel Energy is sending about 270 line workers from Colorado and several other states to Florida to work on restoration efforts. 

The storm made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest ever in the United States. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in parts of Florida early Thursday at Gov. Ron DeSantis' request, freeing up additional federal assistance to state and local governments and individuals. 

RELATED: Biden: 'Our country hurts' after Hurricane Ian slams Florida

Biden said the storm could end up as "the deadliest hurricane in Florida's history."

RELATED: Ian leaves trail of devastation through Florida, downgraded to tropical storm

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this article. 

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