Indiana Task Force 1 returns from helping Kentucky recover from flooding

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana Task Force 1, an elite team that goes to disasters and emergency situation, returned home Thursday after being deployed to flood-stricken Kentucky.

A total 59 task force members assisted in search-and-rescue efforts. They were about an hour from the heart of the most heavily damaged area.

At least 38 people died in last month’s historic flooding. The flash flooding swept away homes and damaged communities.

Indiana Task Force 1 leader Jay Settergren says he’d never seen such destruction in his 25 years of service. “In a small localized area like this, with flash flooding, pictures don’t do it justice. It did a lot of damage. It wiped out a lot of property, buildings, vehicles, schools.”

Settergren says Kentucky officials are switching to recovery mode where they’ll move to rebuild what was lost.