US search and rescue teams deploy to help Venezuela earthquake response
Teams from California to Florida are helping Venezuelans rebound from devastating earthquakes that killed nearly 1,500 people, according to the latest death toll figures authorities announced on Saturday.
Search and rescue operations are entering their third full day, after Venezuelan officials estimated 1,430 were killed and 68,900 were missing Saturday morning, a significant spike from the 920 declared dead and 3,300 declared missing Friday. The pair of powerful earthquakes that shook Caracas on Wednesday evening had magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, making them among the strongest to rock the country in over a century.
International rescue teams, including groups from the U.S., have been deployed to help the embattled country as it grapples with the devastation caused by the earthquakes in the capital and nearby cities. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio called to offer their support, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said Friday evening, including by sending rescue workers, “specialist equipment, support for temporary shelters and humanitarian aid for the affected families.”
The Pentagon announced on Saturday that it is expanding military support to the country, including by providing aircraft for relief efforts and satellite imagery of devastated areas to disaster relief planners, aiding their assessment of where immediate life-saving and aid efforts are needed most.
“We are deeply grateful for this gesture of friendship and cooperation,” Rodriguez said, after Rubio’s State Department activated a third urban search and rescue team to help with recovery operations.
The State Department has the power to activate “task forces” from each state to respond to such emergencies.
The teams from Florida Task Force 1 and 2 in Miami-Dade County consist of 80 personnel and six canine teams. U.S. Southern Command said Saturday it is transporting the teams to “join critical life-saving efforts underway in devastated areas.”
“Every single person that lives in Miami knows someone, a friend or family member, that is in Venezuela,” Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said, referencing the area’s strong Venezuelan diaspora. “We are scared for them, and we are worried for them.”
They join two other task forces from the U.S. that have been activated to head to Venezuela. A team from Virginia landed in the South American country on Friday, bringing firefighters, doctors, and structural engineers as well as search-and-rescue canines.
Several faith-based groups from Virginia are also helping out in Venezuela, alongside Virginia Task Force 1. They include Operation Blessing and Mercy Chefs, which sent feeding teams to respond to the disaster.
In California, the Los Angeles County Firefighters International Urban Search and Rescue team has been deployed as part of U.S. aid operations. The group consists of 71 search-and-rescue experts, six K-9 teams, and 84,000 pounds of critical equipment.
“First thing that we’re expecting is a lower level of resources, and we don’t know what state those resources are in after the earthquake,” LA County Fire Captain Aaron Katon told KTLA. “So we’re really going in expecting the unexpected, but ready to do the job that we do every day.”
The death toll is expected to climb even higher once the 72-hour mark from when the earthquakes hit occurs on Saturday evening.