Five first responders from Palm Beach County have been sent to help storm-ravaged east Texas, Fire Rescue Chief Jeffrey Collins wrote to county commissioners Tuesday.

So far, no equipment has been sought, but first responders specializing in urban search and rescue have been dispatched, Collins said.

The staffers are being sent as the county fulfills its role in an emergency mutual aid compact it signed with governments that have pledged to help each other if disaster strikes.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall along the Texas coast on Friday, pounding the area with winds in excess of 130 miles per hour. The Category 4 storm — the first major hurricane to strike the U.S. since Wilma roared across Florida in 2005 — has unloaded devastating rainfall, flooding roadways and leaving thousands stranded.

In addition to the first responders, a three-member team from the Salvation Army of Palm Beach County on Tuesday departed for Texas. They packed a mobile kitchen that can serve 1,500 meals a day. A total of 10 teams from across Florida are heading to Texas to support victims and first responders.

One Palm Beach County Fire Rescue employee has been activated for service in Texas in the U.S. Air Force. Another employee is going as part of an urban search and rescue team and another three are going part of a state emergency services task force.

"We expect more employees will be deployed in response to this urgent situation in Texas," Collins wrote to county board members. "All travel expenses will be covered by the State or Federal government. To date, only personnel have been sent, no equipment is required. As more requests are eminent, I will update the board on any further deployments and any associated County assets."

Other county officials are also looking to pitch in.

"I personally have friends who are city and county managers out there, and I have been asking them what they need," County Administrator Verdenia Baker said.

Baker said cities and counties use a formal process to assist one another so aid is targeted and not redundant. The county is working through that process so it can provide assistance.

Commissioner Steven Abrams, opening a county workshop Tuesday with a prayer, included a reference to the victims of the disaster in Texas, urging people here to keep them in their thoughts and prayers.

As the meeting ended, County Mayor Paulette Burdick reminded county residents of how quickly a hurricane can develop, underscoring the need to get prepared before a storm is on the horizon.

She urged residents to take time now to prepare a hurricane kit and stock up on medicines they might need but not be able to get in the immediate aftermath of a storm.

"We all saw how a tropical storm went to a Category 1 to a Category 4," Burdick said of Harvey, which mushroomed from tropical storm status on Thursday to the Category 4 monster that blasted the Texas coast the next day.

"It is, in fact, a matter of life and death," she said. "When you are ordered to evacuate, evacuate. Be prepared, and be safe out there."