Colorado’s urban search and rescue task force continues to provide aid in Florida

DENVER ( KDVR ) — The Colorado Urban Search and Rescue Task Force One is working alongside rescue workers from Florida and Alabama as they continue assessing structural damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Members of the team have been on the road since Sept. 25, when the first of the crews packed up and drove over 20 hours to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The team was sent to Pinellas County in Florida first, then sent north to Asheville, North Carolina, where there was still active flooding.

Now the task force is back in Florida after Hurricane Milton, working to assess 33,000 structures in the Clearwater area. The task force assesses the structures for damage and whether residents can safely return. Clearwater is located on the Gulf of Mexico, west of Tampa and north of Siesta Keys.

The team of volunteers is just one part of the aid provided by Coloradans. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced on Oct. 8 that he was authorizing the National Guard to send a Chinook helicopter and eight crew members to help with the disaster.

The teams were able to clear about 75% of those structures on Saturday, the group reported on Facebook. Next, the group anticipates being sent to another badly damaged area south of Clearwater.

Nexstar partner station WFLA reported that over 500 people were rescued from an apartment building in Clearwater after high water trapped residents inside the structure. The city of Clearwater said on its website that there were many fallen trees, power outages and minimal storm surge impacts in the city from Milton and Helene. The task force was part of the group that aided in the rescue of those 500 or so residents.

The structure assessment follows the task force working in Clearwater to conduct “hasty” searches, which continued through Saturday. The task force described the searches as 911-follow ups where local resources responded, but could not clear the neighborhood due to the high number of calls during Hurricane Milton.

Currently, the task force has been on standby for possible flooding . The soil in the area is saturated, the task force reported on social media, and there are scattered showers forecasted with some areas under flood watch .

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