DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Task force teams from South Florida have returned from duty after spending nearly two weeks on search and rescue missions across southwest Florida.
“These 96 individuals that you see in front of you left everything they had in that community and we– quite frankly– think we have left our mark from now until the future as well,” said Jeff Rouse, Florida Task Force 1 Team Leader.
Florida Task Force 1 and 2 came home Tuesday, after a two-week mission in Southwest Florida assisting with search and rescue efforts on Fort Myers Beach and the nearby barrier islands.
“It never gets easy,” said Ryan Townsend, Florida Task Force 1. “However, to provide help to those who are in need is just a huge privilege and honor for us.”
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of long days–tiring but very grateful, and very rewarding,” said another Florida Task Force 1 team member, “and we’re happy we could help as much as we could.”
Southwest Florida, especially coastal areas, saw unprecedented destruction and storm surge.
The death toll has surpassed 100, as of Monday.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” said a Florida Task Force responder.
7News accompanied Florida Task Force 2 as they searched for human remains on Fort Myers Beach last week.
“They were devastated. Their homes were rocked. The island was rocked. There’s no power, no water,” said David Varona, Florida Task Force 1. “We left it all on the table. We gave all of our blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul.”
It was a call to serve that South Florida first responders did not hesitate to answer.
In a message to our neighbors to the west, a Florida Task Force responder said, “Be strong, be strong, and it’s going to get better.”
The search and rescue efforts in Fort Myers have concluded.
On Wednesday, 25 members of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Rapid Deployment Force will come home. They are specially trained in rapid tactical responses including building searches and the operation of heavy machinery and cutting instruments.
A second group will head over to Southwest Florida in the morning, as well.
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