Miami-Dade Fire Rescue search and recovery team helps with hurricane relief efforts

Crew arrived in Texas with 4 cargo trucks of equipment

HOUSTON – As the sun surfaced for the first full day over southeast Texas Wednesday, emergency crews got a better glimpse of the toll of the disaster left behind by Hurricane Harvey.

Flood waters that are slightly receding are revealing vehicles that had been submerged for days, including a cargo van believed to be carrying four children and their grandparents.

"The family -- we just notified them. Obviously, they are devastated as we are all, as well," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. 

Hundreds of roads in Houston remain blocked by high water because of overfilled dams, bayous and lakes spilling into adjacent communities.

High water rescues are continuing by the moment. Among the agencies on the ground in Texas is Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Urban Search and Recovery Team, which arrived with four cargo trucks full of necessary equipment and a specialized K-9.

"We're driving by a lot of just, you know, destruction and people whose lives are just completely decimated," Michelle Steele, of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, said. "For the most part, they've been really fantastic. I mean, the one thing I can tell you is people are standing up to their waist in water and just giving us a thumbs up and waving as we go by. It's uplifting to us too."

The city of Houston initiated a curfew overnight and threatened to arrest anyone other than essential personnel who are caught on the streets between midnight and 5 a.m.

Officials said the curfew was set to prevent looting.

So far, 14 looting arrests have been reported.

A flooded out grocery store in the city was hit twice -- once by massive flooding and then again by thieves who raided the vacant business.

Meanwhile, some residents are continuing to have to evacuate as severe flooding remains an issue.

"We were checking it all night long," John Dombrowski said. "At 3 a.m. when I looked the last time, it wasn't even up to my front door, and by 5 a.m. we had 2 inches of water in the house."
 


About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.