MIAMI ā First responders from South Florida are heading up north to help some of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sally.
āOur big concern is going to be the amount of flooding, the water thatās going to happen in the panhandle,ā said Scott Dean, task force leader of Urban Search and Rescue Florida.
The task force met up in Miami Wednesday morning to check in before shipping up to Tallahassee as Sally continues to flood the panhandle.
āTask force members sacrifice their home life, their work life, they do leave for an extended period of time -- the commitment is 14 days,ā Dean said.
The task force is made up of first responders, doctors, engineers, and K9 units.
The K9s are trained to find humans who are still alive in collapsed structures in these disaster situations.
āItās wonderful. Especially the fact we can save somebodyās life,ā K9 handler Ana Kaufmann said.
The team was last deployed to Puerto Rico following the earthquake there, and before that they were sent to the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian.
āThe added element for them is to do it while maintaining precautions relative to COVID. This is the first time theyāre deploying under COVID-19,ā City of Miami Fire Rescue Chief Joe Zahralban said.
Itās a heroās task the group is ready to take on.
āUltimately, everyone understands what weāre here for,ā Dean said. āWeāre here to help people. Thatās what our day jobs are, so this is just an extra opportunity to go out and help people.ā