HARRISBURG, Pa. — Members of Pennsylvania Task Force 1 are home after helping communities in Florida that were destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
“Destruction…I mean there is little or nothing left," said Captain Jeremy Saul from the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire.
Saul describes the scene when he first arrived in central Florida.
"A lot of the buildings are gone," he said. "Complete devastation, lots and lots of sand, lots and lots of people’s property and stuff all over the place."
Harrisburg Bureau of Fire Captain Aldo Morelli described a similar scene.
“Houses that were just not there anymore, cars in the water, boats in people’s yards, boats on people’s houses," said Morelli.
Saul and Morelli are part of Pennsylvania Task Force 1. The task force went to Florida at the end of September to assist in search and rescue operations. The team was deployed for about two weeks.
“We’d complete searches and collect data for FEMA and then other days we were in boats checking the canals making sure that they weren’t any remains of any bodies," said Morelli.
It was Saul’s first time being deployed with Pennsylvania Task Force 1. He shares one experience that really stuck with him.
“We did come across a couple of people that did try to ride out the storm and their exact words [were that] they’ve never experienced anything like this. They were actually praying that we were there, they prayed during the storm, they thought they could ride it out and they were lucky," said Saul.
The first responders say that it’s a great feeling being able to help people during one the worst times of their life.
“The pride that you have representing the Commonwealth, representing the city, representing the bureau is incredible," said Morelli. "We as a task force are representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that says a lot. You’re making a difference in someone’s life."