VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.— On Sunday evening, Virginia Beach welcomed home a group of members of Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 2.
When the group got back from their week-long trip, they were met by a small crowd. As the aftermath of Hurricane Debby moved through South Carolina, they were there to help.
“There are times when people are cut off from their home, so if they want to be evacuated, we carry them out.” The Battalion Chief of the Virginia Beach Fire Department and program manager for Virginia Task Force 2 said, “If they have lost power and have medical needs like if they’re on an oxygen generator or any other type of medical device that needs power, we try to get into the neighborhoods quickly and find those people.”
This time, the task team was in South Carolina to help with damage assessment and as a 911 resource. They stayed a few extra days in Berkley County, South Carolina, which got almost 20 inches of rain in just a few hours, which also made the trip longer.
“This [storm] didn’t give quite the wind and storm surge we’ve seen in some of the other ones like Ian and Michael, but it was a lot of flooding in the area,” Brian Sullivan, task force head, said.
There had been a lot of calls before the trip. They help with all kinds of tragedies, like weather events, building collapses, and earthquakes.
“This is where the urban search and rescue program got its start: with earthquakes.” “In 1989, there was an earthquake in San Francisco called Loma Prieta,” Hopkins said.
They are also happy to help out when asked.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to help out, not only for the citizens but the fire departments down there being a force multiplier for them and being able to assist them and let them focus on handling the missions and taking care of their people being affected in the storm,” Sullivan said.
The team is made up of firefighters from all over Virginia, EMS workers, and people who work in other specialized areas. Virginia Task Force 2 is based in Virginia Beach and is part of FEMA’s Urban Search Rescue team.
