Rescue workers in North Port to assist with flooding after returning from Surfside collapse site

After returning from the site of the Surfside building collapse, a group of highly trained first responders from Southwest Florida are being sent off again. But this time, they’ll be closer to home.

Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 6 responded to North Port Friday to help those who have been impacted by the flooding there. After Hurricane Elsa dumped heavy rain on Southwest Florida, some in North Port were stuck dealing with the quickly rising waters. Task Force 6’s job is to get those people to safety.

This is after risking their lives, hoping and searching for anyone alive after the condo collapse in Surfside.

Shane Sibert is one of the directors of Task Force 6. “Unfortunately, Surfside that was definitely a bittersweet event for us. The fact that we couldn’t pull any live rescues but the fact that we were able to help families with closure,” Sibert said.

Now, they’ve packed up for their next mission. “Our mission objective, it’s going to be at evacuations people that are still stuck in the flooding area. We’re going to go in and help evacuate, and we’re only going in as a support team for North Port,” Sibert said.

This dedicated group of brave people lives their lives on call. The latest call is to help people handle suddenly rising waters in North Port.

“This is kind of more in our wheelhouse, flooding, storms that’s what we’ve done for years,” Sibert said.

The team hates the heartbreak of some of their missions but loves helping people.

“They want to work; they wanna be active. Being deployed like this task after task, it’s good, but I just have to watch out for their well-being too,” Sibert said.

Of course, they’re ready for the mission ahead and whatever else is thrown at them, but a piece of their heart is still in Surfside.

“We’re still — our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Sibert said.