AKRON, Ohio — As Hurricane Milton barrels towards the Gulf Coast, dozens of Ohio Task Force One members are standing by in Florida, preparing for possible searches, rescues and damage assessments.

Most of the team didn’t return to Northeast Ohio after spending two weeks helping the victims of Hurricane Helene in Florida and North Carolina.

About 80 Ohio first responders are setting up shop at a convention center in Orlando as they wait to receive orders after Milton makes landfall Thursday morning.

Green Fire Battalion Chief Josh Compton, Tallmadge Fire Battalion Chief Andy Miller and Lakewood Fire Captain Matt Preuer said Wednesday marked the sixteenth day of their deployment. Typical deployments for a hurricane are up to 14 days.

After Hurricane Helene hit, the firefighters did welfare checks and damage assessments in Florida and North Carolina. They estimated hundreds of homes or businesses were destroyed in the Asheville, N.C. area.

“Two weeks ago, when we came down for Hurricane Helene, we weren’t expecting to be back in Florida for another hurricane,” Compton said.

All three men have been to multiple other hurricane locations over the years. They said their focus is on helping people just as they do on rescue calls back home.

“Many of us here are firefighters anyway, so we do this at home. This is just on a larger scale,” Preuer said. “We’re prepared for everything. The nice thing about Ohio Task Force One, and all the teams down here, is we’re self-sufficient.”

For now, the team is in a holding pattern. They feel they’re in a safe position in Orlando and will be ready to respond when needed.

“The anticipation is always there. We’re hoping that people heed the warning and do evacuate, but if the need is there, we’ll be there tonight,” Miller said. “People say, ‘Aren’t you worried?’ I say, we’re with the best of the best and I truly mean it that we’re with the best of the best.”

While the team will do whatever they can to help the storm victims, keeping each other safe is also critical to the mission.

“We all look out for each other, making sure everyone is good physically and mentally,” Preuer said.

While the firefighters feel it’s important to be in Florida to help, they acknowledge it’s very hard to be away from family.

“My wife is on day 16 also, not knowing when I’m going to be home. I love them to death. Jenna, I love you. I miss you and we’ll be home eventually,” Miller said.

Preuer said support from family helps the team get through the difficult ordeal.

“It’s tough [to] be away, but luckily, I have great family support— amazing wife. It’s easier to be away when you got support like that at home,” he said.

Compton said he keeps in contact with his kids to let them know what’s happening during his deployments.

“I FaceTime them every day, and we have a little group chat. I’ll send them pictures, so I’m keeping them updated on things,” Compton said.

Compton said the team could return to Ohio sometime late next week but added the date could be a moving target, largely depending on how much destruction Milton leaves behind.

A month ago on the Oregonian Sports podcast, both hosts predicted that Oregon would beat Ohio State at Autzen Stadium on Oct. 12. Now, that the weekend is upon us and we have a body of work by which to judge both teams in this titanic clash of top-3 teams, do Bill Oram and Brenna Greene stand by those picks?

Also discussed on this week’s episode:

• How concerned should the Ducks be about Dillon Gabriel’s red zone struggles?

• Outside of the rankings, what contributes to the “bigness” of Saturday’s matchup in Eugene?

• Why it feels so hard to know how to judge the 4-1 Oregon State Beavers

• The injury bug has already hit the Blazers a week into training camp

Listen to the full episode here:

— Bill Oram

CINCINNATI — Voters heading to the polls in Ohio will notice another “Issue 1” on their ballot this general election — this time, the measure is a redistricting proposal that could drastically change the balance of power within the statehouse.

The goal of Issue 1 is to end gerrymandering, which is manipulating district lines to favor one political party.

“We have some of the most biased maps in the country, not just at the congressional level but the State House and the State Senate,” said Dr. David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Niven was asked by the League of Women Voters Ohio to look over the state’s districting maps and see if the issue of gerrymandering had been fixed by Ohio’s last redistricting reform.

“My answer from my review of the districts is decidedly no, we didn’t fix the problem,” Niven said. “We changed some of the problems but the fundamentals are still the same.”

The League of Women Voters Ohio is working to campaign in favor of Issue 1, stating that the current districting maps hurt all voters.

“What we see are these weird districts that make it difficult for Ohio voters to be heard and represented,” said Jen Miller, executive director for the League of Women Voters Ohio.

One of those “weird” districts Miller refers to is the 1st Congressional District right here in Cincinnati.

Miller says those who created the map grouped the City of Cincinnati with Warren County, creating a “land bridge” since the two don’t connect. But she says the shape is not the biggest issue.

“The biggest concern would be the profound differences between residents of Warren County and Cincinnati,” Miller said.

She added the two areas have drastic financial differences, homeownership numbers and more, often causing one of the two to be disappointed by their political leaders.

However, many GOP lawmakers disagree, saying the current maps work.

“The three main things are to make sure you have one person, one vote, you have communities together, and you keep compactness, and you can only split communities one time,” said Republican state Rep. Adam Mathews (District 56).

Taylor Mirfendereski | WCPO

Mathews argues that if Issue One passes, it will gerrymander district maps.

“It will push both regional and political polarization, all for the benefit of adding two democratic congressional seats,” Mathews said.

He and others who oppose Issue 1 add that only new Democrats who are voted in will benefit from it, and if they truly wanted “unbiased maps” then they would only change who draws them.