Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7 heads to Texas to aid flood response

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Flooding in Texas recently made headlines again, and this time Florida’s Big Bend had a special reason to pay attention: local firefighters were among those sent to help.

Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7, based in Tallahassee, deployed to assist with flood response in Texas. The team traveled from Tallahassee to San Antonio, a trip that Lt. Brad Yates said took 15 hours.

Yates, a firefighter for 15 years and a member of Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7, said he and his team were dispatched to help search for people in floodwaters across multiple areas.

“Myself and my team we rolled down to South West Texas, a place called Caruso Springs, and from there we worked a couple days and we bounced out to Lorado and after that bounced down the Rio Grand river essentially south into Texas even further,” Yates said.

According to Yates, Florida sent three search and rescue teams to help during the Texas floods. He described rapidly changing conditions and water rising quickly.

“A lot of flooding, it was very impressive how quick the water rises in that area. For instance in the first city we went to we initially drove in on the highway and within an hour we were informed that, that road was underwater and essentially we couldn’t leave that town, we would stay there for that night,” Yates said.

Yates said helicopter crews were also involved, pulling people from the water and dropping them off near his team. He said many of the people rescued were shaken and grateful.

“Almost in a state of shock, you don’t expect to wake up and your house is flooding or in the middle of the night your house is flooding, you wake up and the water is rising quickly. The were all very appreciative, very nice to us and just continuously thanking us for being there and helping them out in their time of need,” Yates said.

Florida Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 7 is state-funded through a grant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, including federal Homeland Security funding. The unit is based in Tallahassee and is prepared to respond to emergencies at any time.