In the aftermath of the many Hurricanes of the late 90's Raleigh realized the need for a FEMA Equivalent Type 1 USAR team.   It was realized that Raleigh could not make up this team alone, thus NC USAR Task Force 8 encompassing the 4 entities of Cary, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill was born.  After Sept. 11, 2001 the state approved House Bill 1471 for 1.3 million to be distributed to USAR teams across North Carolina.  36 people from the 4 entities (Cary, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) were sent to Charlotte for 2 weeks at the end of 2002.  In May of 2003 Raleigh held their first school,  July 2003 was the second school, and September 2003 was the third school.   Shortly after the May 2003 school, Task Force 8 entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management to provide Statewide USAR response.  Also in 2003, the Task Force formed a partnership with local engineering and heavy equipment firm Atlas Engineering.  Atlas provides Certified Engineers and heavy equipment and operators when needed for training and/or deployments.  Finally, in Sept. of 2003 Task Force 8 went operational as a resource deployable nationwide for Urban Search and Rescue.