Austinites Mobilize to Haiti Through Texas Task Force One

Money. It's one word that speaks the loudest when it comes to offering real relief to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The Red Cross is reporting it has raised more than $3 million through its text message donation campaign. Many are reporting money will have the greatest impact the fastest.

But Texas Task Force One, the state's elite search and rescue team, is also mobilizing, according to the city of Austin. Thursday, Governor Rick Perry activated the group and informed President Barack Obama more state resources will be available to assist emergency response teams.

The organization is an urban search and rescue group, and seven fire fighters from Austin have been deployed to Haiti, as well as portions of central and south Texas in preparation for flooding. They are: Warren Weidler, Keith Brown, Travis Maher, Jody Cook, Ron Buys, Russ Keller, Mike Frick, Scott Bartell, Greg Reddish, Jeff Deane, Homero Garcia, Mike Becker, Tommy Wilkins, Terrence Oertli, Matthew Avery, Duane Carter, Randy Trinkle and Ken Larsen.

Texas Task Force One is comprised of members from across the state, and feeds into a national effort when disaster strikes. Team members also traveled to events like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the disaster of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.

If you would like to do something for the earthquake victims, go to www.redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Visit the Center for International Disaster Information at www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a.