SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - The rainy weather is already causing delays and a real danger for the men and women working around the clock at the Surfside condo building collapse site.
As of Wednesday evening, the downpours continue but state officials said they are ready for whatever mother nature throws their way.
“Those folks are going to be working on that pile, and it’s not going to stop,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
He made that promise to the families of the more than 100 who remain unaccounted for.
Two systems, however, are churning in the tropics.
“If a system does develop, I want to ensure you we have contingency plans which include facility relocation, communications [and] backup plans of how we will continue to respond here while responding to the hurricane,” said Kevin Guthrie with the Florida Dept. of Emergency Management.
Meteorologists are monitoring two systems: one near the Lesser Antilles with little chance of development and behind that, a second one that has become Potential Tropical Cyclone 5.
“It is the season and you gotta be ready,” said DeSantis.
State officials said they are ready with a plan since the majority of state assets are at the Surfside collapse site.
“The division requested a federal USAR team that we mentioned yesterday, we will need that team to augment the efforts here so that we can free up some of our state assets to be able to respond to a tropical cyclone,” said Guthrie.
The team mentioned is currently on standby as a potential storm looms over the search effort.
The search effort has already had its share of bad weather, as first responders continue their work to clear debris and, hopefully, find survivors.
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