MI-TF1 deployed an 8-member Swiftwater Rescue Team to the Vermont after historic flooding occurred. The team’s deployment focused on bolstering rescue efforts for local, state and federal first responders making rescues and evacuations of residents and helping the communities recover., MI-TF1 worked alongside teams from North Carolina, Connecticut, Virginia, and two FEMA USAR Task Forces from Massachusetts (MA-TF1) and New York (NY-TF1).

The following represents some of the highlights of MI-TF1’s tasks, assignments, and/or missions during its 10-day deployment:

• Provided rescues and assists/evacs to eight (7) residents and one companion animal during night operations in the flooded town of Cambridge, VT, along with one (1) civilian trapped in a flooded vehicle near the town of Middlebury, VT.
• Completed wide area and hasty searches to approximately 523 miles of roads/streets.
• Provided primary searches on approximately 90 structures.
• Completed well-being checks where residents were cut off by impassible roads/bridges.
• Provide damaged assessments for infrastructure, including roadways, bridges, dams and power distribution systems.