{"id":334665,"date":"2026-07-09T18:11:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334665\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:11:20","slug":"helping-venezuela-miami-mayor-honors-search-and-rescue-teams-service-in-la-guaira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334665\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Venezuela: Miami mayor honors search-and-rescue team\u2019s service in La Guaira"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published:\u00a0July 9, 2026 at 1:57 PM<\/p>\n

MIAMI
\n \u2014 It has been 15 days since the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck in northern Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said she was proud of the Miami Department of Fire-Rescue\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department deployed 79 members of Florida Task Force 2<\/a> from June 27 to July 6. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithin 24 hours, we got the call that we were deploying, and in three hours, we had to be on a plane at Homestead Air Force Base,\u201d Miami Assistant Fire Chief Chris Diaz said. <\/p>\n

The team searched through the rubble of collapsed apartment buildings in Venezuela\u2019s coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area.<\/p>\n

Higgins honored Fire Chief Robert Hevia,<\/a> Diaz, and their teammates on Thursday at City Hall. They got a standing ovation. <\/p>\n

\u201cRisk a lot to save a lot, and there was a lot to save in Venezuela, so the team had to take some risks,\u201d Hevia said. \u201cWe are very fortunate and very blessed that they all came back safely.\u201d <\/p>\n

Venezuelan officials reported the death toll was at 3,811, there were about 190 buildings destroyed, some 855 buildings damaged, and 18,000 people displaced. <\/p>\n

More on Helping Venezuela<\/a> \"\"Venezuela Earthquake A young man sleeps as rescue workers continue searching through the rubble after the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos\/AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) <\/p>\n

Related list: Aid for Venezuela drop-off locations in South Florida<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Coffins are stacked at the seaport where forensic workers sort the bodies of earthquake victims in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos\/AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) \"\"APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Khaterine Roa cries as members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department search for survivors at a building that collapsed during the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix\/AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix) \"\"Venezuela Earthquake A man sits amid earthquake rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela, Monday, June 29, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix\/AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix) \"\"VENEZUELA A helicopter flies over a search and rescue team at work on Saturday in Catia La Mar, Venezuela. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara\/AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) \"\"AMS-GEN VENEZUELA-SISMOS Residentes y rescatistas buscan entre los escombros dos d\u00edas despu\u00e9s de los sismos que sacudieron La Guaira, Venezuela, el 26 de junio de 2026. (AP Foto\/Mat\u00edas Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix\/AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix) \"\"APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers search through the rubble three days after earthquakes struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara\/AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) \"\"Venezuela Earthquake Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Juan Pablo Arraez) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Juan Pablo Arraez\/AP Photo\/Juan Pablo Arraez) \"\"Venezuela Survivors walk on Friday near a toy that was abandoned in the rubble of an apartment building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela. (AP Foto\/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara\/AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) \"\"APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers aid Daniel Cordero after pulling him from the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara\/AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) \"\"Venezuela Earthquake Venezuelan Police searches through the rubble two days after earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos\/AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) \"\"APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers place Daniel Cordero on a stretcher after pulling him from the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara\/AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara) \"\"Venezuela Earthquake Members of a religious organization distribute food to people affected two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos\/AP Photo\/Ariana Cubillos) <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

\"JeffJeff Derderian <\/p>\n

Jeff Derderian is an Emmy Award-winning reporter with more than two decades of experience uncovering the truth and holding the powerful accountable. <\/p>\n

\"AndreaAndrea Torres<\/p>\n

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published:\u00a0July 9, 2026 at 1:57 PM MIAMI \u2014 It has been 15 days since the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-334665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}