(CBS5) OAKLAND The California Task Force 4, Urban Search and Rescue Team, scheduled to leave for Louisiana Tuesday morning, had its departure delayed after the unit apparently tried to bring too many supplies on board.

The water search-and-rescue team is now set to leave at 4 p.m.

"They're still there," Alameda County Assistant Fire Chief Jim Purchio said, adding that the plane "had to wait for crew and also had more (gear) than they expected. They needed time to rearrange their cache."

The team is a collection of emergency professionals from across the East Bay. It left Oakland for Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, from where it was scheduled to fly to Louisiana.

There are also crews from Menlo Park and Sacramento leaving from Travis AFB. All eight of California's swiftwater rescue teams have been deployed.

It's believed that thousands of people are still trapped in their homes and cars along the Gulf Coast.

Each 14-member team includes scuba divers, helicopter pilots, radio operators, powerboat drivers, paramedics, hazardous materials specialists, according to state Office of Emergency Services Director Henry Renteria.

Members of the fire departments of Oakland, Fremont, Berkeley, Livermore and Pleasanton were represented.

According to Oakland Fire Department captain Kevin Nuuhiwa, the team was expecting to find the worst.

"Our goal is to get out there and extract as many people out of trees, rooftops, off cars, that are stranded or who have found themselves trapped by water," Nuuhiwa said. "We're just getting preliminary reports that there's a great number of people still unaccounted for."

The team will also deploy specialists such as paramedics, medical suppliers and hazardous materials experts. It is one of eight in California and 28 in the country trained in water rescue, as well as other types of rescues including
structural and collapse search and rescue.

The team is trained and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. It is always ready to
be activated and flown to a disaster within six hours.

(CBS5)