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Missouri’s most experienced search and rescue team continues to work along the East Coast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Members of MO Task Force 1 left for damaged areas on Monday from Columbia.

Authorities assigned MO Task Force 1 members to search five areas in the City of Long Beach, Long Island, New York.

They are performing wide area searches and going door-to-door.

Crews will be working with GPS tracking to make sure they cover all areas.

MO Task Force 1 spokesman Gale Blomenkamp told our sister station KRCG in Jefferson City, “They said the water has receded. They have some trees and power lines down with some damage to structures. We did have another crew that broke away from the main body of the task force and they were assigned to Freeport, New York. They searched about 23 homes there. They are now all back together in Long Beach.”

MO Task Force 1 includes 80 firefighters and emergency workers with more than 100,000 pounds of equipment.

The Missouri-based search and rescue team is working with similar teams from 6 other states.

(Story by KRCG's Mark Slavit.)