On-call with Bay Area crews in North Carolina

(FOX 13) - Hillsborough Fire Rescue posted photos on social media of crews from the Bay Area getting set up in North Carolina.

They’re taking a wealth of knowledge and experience responding to major storms across the country.

Just last year, they traveled to Houston to help out during Hurricane Harvey. This time, they're in the Carolinas, waiting to see the extent of the damage Florence leaves behind.

"Nobody is going to get left behind," Pasco Fire Rescue’s Ahimt Beesan said. "We're going to go help a whole bunch of people that need a lot of help."

Fire rescue crews from Pasco, Lakeland, Hillsborough, and Temple Terrace are in North Carolina and are already at work.

Several hospitals needed to be evacuated. The team from Hillsborough helped transport critical patients.

"Our hope is to provide the highest level of care to as many patients as we potentially can reach before and after the storm," Hillsborough Fire Rescue Chief Prudy Vallejo said.

LATEST: Tropical bands from Florence begin lashing Carolinas

His team arrived in Raleigh and has since moved to Kinston, near the coast. Vallejo says their experience dealing with countless hurricanes and tropical storms in Florida is so valuable.

"We've been tasked with quite a few calls already because of our experience in dealing with these kinds of things," Vallejo said.

With the possibility of record flooding, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office deployed a swiftwater rescue team to the Carolinas.

As all those crews head north, evacuees are fleeing Florence, with some heading to Florida.

"I hope it's still there when I get back and it's not too destroyed," Wilmington, North Carolina resident Paulette Lockwood told FOX 13 while she was stopped at a rest area Wednesday.

Many folks like her are leaving her homes under a hurricane-sized cloud of uncertainty. Emergency responders hope their presence will provide some peace of mind.

LINK: Track Florence at myfoxhurricane.com

"I'm expecting that they're going to need some help, probably going to be overwhelmed with a lot of work to do and it'll be all hands on deck," Lakeland Fire Rescue’s John Maddox said.

Hillsborough firefighters say they're already helping respond to urgent 911 calls. They're going to keep doing that until they're told otherwise, or the storm becomes too dangerous.