Miami-Dade Rapid Deployment Force team returns from west coast, second team heads out
MIAMI - Twenty-five members of the Miami-Dade police department's Rapid Deployment Force, who have been assisting first responders on the west coast, returned home on Wednesday as a new group headed out.
"I am honored to be around such brave men and women, selfless men and women, who just went up there and did a week tour up there and a lot of humanitarian aid for a community that needed a lot of help," said police Director Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez III.
Ramirez said they're going to continue sending teams as long as there is a need for them.
The team that returned has spent a week in Charlotte County. Lieutenant Jorge Audino said it was an honor to help out.
"Repairing roofs, putting tarps on roofs, getting rid of debris, and passing out food and water to those in need, helping the elderly, and passing out even just little candies to the kids," he said.
The Rapid Deployment Force team members said their rigorous training helped prepare them for moments like this. Those deployed will spend a week living in tents with cots and amenities for them to shower. They don't mind.
"(It's to) Pay them back for Andrew and a couple of the storms that we had and they came down and supported us. Our main mission is to go forward in whatever task they might have. Our brothers that came back facilitated a lot of the mission already," said Sergeant Brad Burke.
Audino said this isn't their typical day-to-day work.
"Law enforcement isn't always seen as handymen or people that go out into the community to repair roofs, but you can't forget that we're human beings, we're part of a community, and if it happened here we would want them to come here and help us," he said.
On Tuesday, Florida Task Force One returned to South Florida after spending two weeks helping out on the barrier islands.
The 96 members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Urban Search and Rescue Team conducted search and rescue, and assisted with reconnaissance, needs assessments, and evacuations.
They went to hardest hit areas, including Sanibel Island and Pine Island, and worked with the Coast Guard and National Guard to conduct air rescues.
"We experienced high waters in some areas, difficulty making access to residents with all the debris," said Task Force member Cesar Garcia. "We witnessed concrete poles that were snapped in half, wood-frame homes that were completely destroyed."
After seeing the devastation, many said they are holding their loved ones a little tighter.
"Having lived through hurricane Andrew here locally, we sympathize. We support them," said Battalion Chief Brandon Webb. "Just because the search and rescue team is coming back to South Dade, the support and empathy, the goodwill, and our ability to help them with recovery doesn't end there."
The Miami-Dade team is one of eight task force teams that had joined over a thousand rescue personnel to assist in the search and rescue efforts in the affected areas.
