Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Utah Task Force 1 has been actively involved in rescue efforts following Hurricanes Milton and Helene, moving between areas from Tennessee to Florida.
- The team, which left Utah two weeks ago, is using K9 dogs to search through rubble for missing people, providing survivors hope and potential closure.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns helping states ravaged by Hurricanes Milton and Helene are providing an update on the work they're doing on the ground.
Utah Task Force 1 K9 coordinator Gabriel Ramirez said they left two weeks ago and were doing what they could to give hope to people in hurricane-ravaged towns from Tennessee to Florida. The K9s have been a big part of that.
The devastation of both hurricanes shows the need for K9 units as they search the rubble to find the bodies of people who are still missing.
"Every time a dog hits on scent, we can see there's a sense of relief, because now we can get to work and potentially find whoever is missing," said Gabriel Ramirez, Utah Task Force 1 K9 coordinator.
As of Friday, NBC reported hundreds remain missing from Hurricane Helene, while at least 340 people have been rescued in Florida. K9s with Utah Task Force 1 have been traveling between the affected areas, looking for as many people as they can to bring their families closure.
Ramirez said just being out there, taking the dogs and searching the debris, is bringing survivors hope that responders are out there to help them.
Typically, the task force is deployed for only two weeks. That's about up for members like Ramirez, but right now, he doesn't know when he'll come home. He said his team is just going where they're needed, and there's a lot of need still there.
"The people right now, they want closure, right? They want help. I will say many, many people come up to us and thank us for what we're doing. Obviously, it's hard for us to receive those thanks or that gratitude because we look at it as we're doing our job," he said.
