A team of first responders from Central Florida is saving lives in Texas and Louisiana in the wake of Harvey. The Central Florida Urban Search and Rescue task force has already rescued dozens of people since arriving in East Texas on Monday.

  • Florida US&R team says it rescued 30-40 people on Tuesday
  • Includes first responders from Orlando, Orange, Seminole counties

Florida US&R Four includes first responders from the Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County, Clermont and Winter Park Fire Departments. The leader of the team says his first responders are relying on lots of training to deal with the unprecedented flooding from Harvey.

“I responded during Katrina and Ivan, and I have to say with this particular hurricane, Harvey and the areas that we’re in, the devastation is just incredible, even compared to those two hurricanes,” said Mike Johansmeyer, US&R Team Leader and Seminole County Assistant Fire Chief.

Johansmeyer says his team rescued at least 30, if not 40 people on Tuesday. And he says Harvey is still dumping heavy rain on them. He says some rivers are so full they’re now flowing in the opposite direction.

“What we’re experiencing is areas that just one hour ago were not experiencing flooding -- in the roadway you could travel --  one hour later it’s impassable, even for emergency vehicles,” said Johansmeyer.

About two dozen volunteers with the Central Florida Red Cross are also helping out with relief efforts. Red Cross volunteer John Lanzetti drove a truck full of water and food to Baton Rouge over the weekend.  He’s now in Louisiana where Harvey’s heavy rains are headed.

Johansmeyer says people his team has rescued may have lost everything, but they’re still thankful just to be alive.

“Basically a core relief that somebody’s there to take care of them and get them to the ground and that they can continue on with their lives,” said Johansmeyer. “They’ll have to rebuild, but the most precious part of them is there and the rest of it can always be replaced.”

Johansmeyer says with the mass scale of this disaster, his Central Florida Search and Rescue team will likely be in the area for a couple of weeks until another crew can replace them.