Six days after the storm, the first South Florida Task Force Two rescuers returned to Miami. As Hurricane Milton approached the west coast, 110 firefighters from various departments, including Miami Fire-Rescue, deployed. They went to Sarasota and Clearwater, the most devastated places, and stepped right into the action.
“Our need is necessary; our members are trained in swift water rescue, in land-based search and rescue operations, they hit the ground running, these are true professionals, they’re ready to encounter and mitigate hazards that they are presented within an austere environment,” Chris Diaz, the head of the task force, said. “Our members assisted community members in the Clearwater, Sarasota, and Siesta Key; we were generally focused on search and rescue.”
The Miami team was in the midst of the most damaged areas. Diaz admitted that comforting those going through difficult times can be emotionally charged. “They’re humans, I mean, they’re true professionals, they’re competent, they deliver outstanding work. However, they’re humans; they know they’re going out to someone’s home that they may have lost,” Diaz went on. “It’s great to be home, but I will say that we don’t know what’s brewing on the horizon, and what you see behind me is 110 members that just got back from the WestCoast, and they’re preparing all of our resources to be out the door within three hours if we get activated again.”
Hopefully, this will not happen anytime soon. Diaz stated unequivocally that most individuals in the evacuation zones obeyed the warnings and left, saving lives. He also thanked FEMA and the state of Florida for preparing assets so that search and rescue operations could begin immediately after the storm passed.
