Governor Charlie Crist asks Task Force 8
Technicians about their search and rescue
operations. From L to R: Governor Charlie Crist,
Robert Graff, Richard Lietz and Justin Lagotic.
Lt. Robert
Graff (left) and Lt. Tim Moody (right) survey the
damage from Hurricane Katrina.
Lt. Robert Graff rides a four-wheeler
down a street in Bay St. Louis. |
The Villages of Sumter County
On February 2 of 2007, North Central Florida's Urban Search
and Rescue (US&R) Task Force 8 team deployed to The Villages of
Sumter County following an F-3 (155-160 mph) tornado touchdown.
Crews canvassed each dilapidated home, searching 1,500 homes
for trapped victims but found none. With raised eyebrows and
looks of disbelief, many wondered how anyone could have
survived. Many homes were torn apart, ripped in half or
flattened.
Hurricane Katrina
The Task Force 8 Team
deployed to Mississippi on August 29, 2005, following the
devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina, traveling more than
nine hours in a convoy of a dozen fire rescue vehicles.
Equipped with four-wheelers, chainsaws and
other tools, 24 firefighters from Alachua County Fire Rescue
(ACFR), Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR), Marion County Fire Rescue
(MCFR) and Ocala Fire Rescue (OFR) conducted searches of
flattened homes and debris piles in the hardest hit areas of Bay
Saint Louis and Biloxi, Mississippi.
Technicians encountered difficulties maneuvering through
neighborhoods on four-wheelers and on foot because of debris
piles, mud, snakes and packs of dogs running scared and hungry.
It was worst than technicians thought it would be. They couldn't
even recognize houses because they looked like lumber yards.
The team was self-sufficient for the first two days of the
seven day deployment, eating and drinking only what they brought
with them. They made large open air tents and went several days
without a shower.
Other Deployments
The Task Force 8 Team
also deployed to south Florida following Hurricane Wilma in 2005
and to the Florida panhandle following Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
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