Florida cities ravaged by a series of hurricanes will be getting help soon from a group of Mandan's finest.

City Administrator Jim Neubauer, Fire Chief Steve Nardello, Mandan firefighters Mitch Bitz and Mike Barth and volunteer firefighter Kasey Burt left today for Atlanta, where they will be trained to respond to the disaster as community relations officers.

The men are part of Mandan's Certified Emergency Response Team, a program led by the North Dakota Citizen Corps and co-sponsored by first lady Mikey Hoeven, the North Dakota League of Cities and North Dakota Emergency Management.

Because of their training, the Federal Emergency Management Agency called Nardello on Sunday, asking if any Mandan volunteers were available to help out in the southeast United States. Neubauer said the disasters there will enable the Mandan team to put their training to the test.

"One of the reasons we went through the training is so if there is a disaster or emergency situation in Mandan or North Dakota, we would have folks available to help out, and I believe they're needing a lot of people to help out in the southeast part of the U.S. right now," he said.

Mandan Mayor Ken LaMont said the opportunity is a great one for the Mandan CERT members.

"Hopefully, what they'll bring back is that if we get caught in a situation similar to that (in Florida), we can respond more effectively and coordinate emergency response through the city," LaMont said.

The group will be gone at least two weeks. Nardello told Neubauer the experience and knowledge that the firefighters in Florida could gain would be worth working out the trip. Neubauer said volunteer firefighters will step in to fill their absence.

As community relations officers, the Mandan men will have a wide variety of duties. Jobs will range from developing working relationships with the people in affected communities, making referrals for assistance and identifying issues with communities. This all plays right into their CERT training, Neubauer said.

The training taught them how to deal with situations, he said, and make sure that people can get the assistance they need.

"We're going to help out in any way we can."

(Reach reporter Angie Buckley at 250-8255 or angiebuckley@ndonline.com.)