SURFSIDE, Fla — Rescue efforts continue in Surfside, Florida after the horrific collapse of a beachfront condo.
Indiana's Task Force One has not been put on alert to help first responders, but they are keeping close watch as they search for survivors.
Tom Neal, program manager for Indiana Task Force One, said first responders face many challenges as they search for signs of life. A key part of that is using heavy equipment to move concrete and debris to make the search safer, and hopefully uncover survivors trapped in a pocket or void beneath the rubble.
"They'll bring in some technical search equipment, fiber optic cameras and listening devices so they can put them in void spaces that may expose someone in a pile," Neal said.
Over the years, Neal has worked several disasters, including hurricanes as well as the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. He recalls the painstaking task his team faced crawling into tight spaces searching for people.
He said one of the things he picked up on watching video out of South Florida is how much damage has occurred to the remaining building that did not collapse.
"There's a lot of stress fractures in the concrete," he said. "Those first responders are in an area where they're at risk of further collapse."
That's adding to the urgency of finding anyone trapped. Neal said search dogs are an important part of the rescue effort, noting, "they have a high capacity to smell live a live human scent thru feet of concrete and other rubble."
And if the dogs sense a person? He said technical search specialists take over, "to see if they can listen to any scratching, any knocking. They can also hear heartbeats if it's quiet enough."
Neal said if someone is trapped in one of those "voids" they can be rescued, "but it's going to take some time. Again, it's all hands on deck. They'll be working 24 hours a day for multiple days."
He suspects it will be a bit longer before first responders move from rescue to recovery operations.
Even though Neal said the magnitude of the collapse "has the potential for a major loss of life," he stressed that people have been rescued from the rubble days after a catastrophic earthquake. And if there's any chance of finding anyone alive, he said first responders will not give up.
