VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Brian Sullivan and the rest of Virginia Task Force 2 are on day two of their search operations in southwest Florida.
When they started Thursday morning, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"It was pretty awe-inspiring seeing some of the damage we’re looking at," he described over the phone. "A lot of damaged structures, a lot of trees down."
They have about 80 team members in Charlotte County now.
Sullivan, Virginia Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief and Task Force Leader, said that area saw mostly wind damage and is without power and water.
"Fortunately this particular area didn’t get the storm surge."
He said his team is there to help take some of the burden off of local first responders.
"We’re allowing them to dedicate their first responders to handling some other areas in their jurisdictions," Sullivan said. "To handle the 911 calls that they're getting."
They've also started to see people return to the area to check on their homes, as most of them heeded the evacuation orders.
"We talked to some residents that stayed for the storm they talked about how intense it was and it was an intense storm for a long time," he said.
With scarce cell service in the area, Sullivan wants to reassure Task Force 2’s families in Hampton Roads the team is doing OK.
The plan for Task Force 2 next week is uncertain, but they’re going to search in Charlotte County for at least another day.