Latest news with #searchandrescue
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Virginia Task Force 1 returns home after victim recovery efforts in Texas flood zone
CHANTILLY, Va. () — Virginia Task Force 1 (VA TF-1), the commonwealth's specialized search and rescue team, is back home from working victim recovery operations following deadly floods in Texas. The crew of four people and three dogs returned to their home base in Chantilly just before noon Monday after a 17-day deployment. Deadly Texas floods leave officials pointing fingers after warnings missed Special handlers and human remains detection dogs from VA TF-1 searched tough terrain, through debris, floodwaters and riverbeds, every day for more than two weeks, working to recover people missing in the devastating floods. The highly trained team included canine specialists Kristi Bartlett and Charlotte Grove and their human remains detection dogs, Athena and Ivy. 'When you're searching 60 miles of shoreline, you're like, 'Okay, I'm trying to find a needle in a haystack.' But, every day we're still giving it our all, really searching and gridding out our areas,' Bartlett said. Grove and Ivy have been paired up on past deployments, working together in search and recovery efforts after Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida back in 2022. 'You still get surprised when you get there, at the amount of devastation that there actually was,' Grove said of her arrival in Texas. This time, the pair worked 12+ hour days sniffing and searching through debris and floodwater in the Texas heat. 'We just keep working. We want to keep working until every last person has been brought home,' Grove said. More than 160 people are still missing after deadly Texas floods, governor says 'We're definitely focused on the mission. Just trying to make sure that we bring closure for everybody and their loved ones,' Bartlett said. 'We're definitely tired. We want to get our life back to normal, but also do more training. So when the next disaster happens, [Athena] is ready to go back out the door.' While 10-year-old canine Athena may have more training ahead, 11-year-old canine Ivy is a bit older. Grove said this may have been Ivy's final deployment before she heads into retirement. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Wall Street Journal
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
30 Dead, Thousands Evacuated Amid Beijing Floods
Chinese President Xi Jinping orders 'all-out' search and rescue efforts to minimize casualties as severe flooding leaves at least 30 people dead in Beijing. Photo: Adek Berry/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Sterling Heights police, Michigan state troopers rescue missing 78-year-old man after 10-hour search
A missing 78-year-old man was found Friday evening in Sterling Heights after a 10-hour search that included a Michigan State Police helicopter unit and several teams on the ground. The Sterling Heights man, who state police said has dementia, was found alive and conscious in a heavily wooded area of Dodge Park. The city park, which is along Utica Road, includes over 51 acres. The man was reported missing earlier in the day, with a "full-scale search" initiated by the Sterling Heights Police Department. As night fell with his whereabouts still unknown, the Michigan State Police Trooper 2 helicopter team joined the search. About 9:30 p.m., the aviation team saw on their tracking equipment the image of what appeared to be a person just off a Dodge Park trail. Sunset had taken place at 8:59 p.m. that night in Sterling Heights. "I believe we've found your subject," the helicopter team called out to dispatchers in a video provided by Michigan State Police. Then speaking to the crews on the ground, the air crew said, "Whomever just hit me with the light, he's about 10 feet in front of you." The man was about 100 yards into the woods, lying in mud beneath a tree, the police report said. Given his condition, officers carried him out of the woods to the trail, where he was placed in the Kubota utility vehicle and transported to Farmstead Park, which is a nearby city-owned park in Sterling Heights. Medical crews met the missing man and police at Farmstead Park and took him to the hospital. He has been reunited with family. The man was reported in stable condition Monday and is expected to make a full recovery. "There is no doubt in our minds that had it not been for the critical assistance of the Michigan State Police helicopter, this outcome could have been very different," Sterling Heights Police Chief Andy Satterfield said. "All of the officers involved demonstrated unwavering determination, and their teamwork, skill, and refusal to give up quite literally saved a life." The Sterling Heights department extended its gratitude to Michigan State Police, Sterling Heights Community Emergency Response Team, Citizens' Patrol, Police Explorers, and other officers who were involved in the search.
Reuters
a day ago
- Climate
- Reuters
Intense rains lash China as landslide kills four
BEIJING, July 28 (Reuters) - Swollen rivers, waterways and reservoirs across China exacerbated flooding and landslides on Monday that killed at least four people, as President Xi Jinping ordered "all-out" search and rescue efforts to minimise casualties. Forty-one rivers across the country have flooded, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing China's Ministry of Water Resources. The ministry said it had issued flood warnings for small and midsize rivers and mountain torrents. Heavy rains intensified around Beijing and surrounding provinces on Monday, including those in central China such as Hunan and northern Inner Mongolia. Four people died in a landslide in northern Hebei and eight people were missing. The recent floods and disasters have resulted in "significant casualties and property losses" in places such as Beijing and provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong, Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua. In Beijing's northern districts, at least 10,464 people were relocated as floodwater discharged from a reservoir in Miyun passed through Huairou, local authorities said in a social media post. The maximum flood peak flow into the Miyun reservoir had reached a record high of 6,550 cubic metres per second over the weekend, authorities said. Earlier on Monday, more than 4,400 villagers in Miyun had been resettled after flash floods and landslides, CCTV reported. At an elderly care centre, some people were trapped as water levels rose close to the roof, the broadcaster said. Emergency rescue services swam into the building and used ropes to rescue 48 people. Images circulated on China's WeChat app showed areas of Miyun where cars and trucks were floating on a flooded road where water levels had risen so high that part of a residential building was submerged. Electricity cuts were also affecting more than 10,000 people, in the area, CCTV said. Northern China has seen record precipitation in recent years, exposing densely populated cities, including Beijing, to flood risks. Some scientists link the increased rainfall in China's usually arid north to global warming. China's Central Meteorological Observatory said that heavy rainfall would continue to drench northern China over the next three days. Hebei, hit hard by widespread flooding two years ago, raised its emergency response level to the second-highest on Monday as disaster risks mount. Beijing issued its highest-level flood alert, and its meteorological observatory said rain would intensify, particularly in the second half of the night. Most areas of the city would have more than 150 mm of rainfall in six hours and some areas could reach more than 300 mm, it added. The storms are part of the broader pattern of extreme weather across China due to the East Asian monsoon, which has caused disruptions in the world's second-largest economy. In Shanxi province, videos from state media showed roads inundated by gushing currents of water and submerged vegetation including crops and trees. Shaanxi, home to China's historic city of Xian, also issued flash flood disaster risk warnings on Monday. Authorities are carrying out search and rescue work across cities including Datong, where a driver in a Ford car lost contact while driving in the floods, the People's Daily reported. Two people were killed and two missing in Hebei province, CCTV said on Sunday morning. Overnight rain dumped a record 145 mm (5.7 inches) per hour on Fuping in the industrial city of Baoding, southwest of the capital. In Hunan's Liudiequan grand canyon in Chunkou town, water rose so rapidly on Sunday that a tourist was swept away, CCTV said. China's National Development and Reform Commission said on Monday that it was urgently arranging 50 million yuan ($7 million) to support Hebei. The funds would be used to repair damaged roads and bridges, water conservancy embankments, schools and hospitals in the disaster area. The NDRC said it was "promoting the restoration of normal life and production as soon as possible." Chinese authorities closely monitor extreme rainfall and severe flooding as they challenge the country's ageing flood defences, threaten to displace millions and wreak havoc on China's $2.8 trillion agricultural sector.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Search resumes for missing tramper Roy Arbon on West Coast
West Coast beekeeper Roy Arbon. Photo: Supplied Police are continuing the search for 75-year-old Roy Arbon missing on the West Coast. He is is overdue from a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell, north-east of Greymouth. He had set out on the walk on Wednesday. A large search operation involving police search and rescue teams, LANDSAR volunteers from Greymouth and surrounding areas and a Search and Rescue dog, has so far failed to locate him. Although Arbon is believed to be an experienced hiker, police were concerned for his wellbeing given the length of time he has been overdue with no contact and the cold temperatures. Police remain committed to the ongoing search, Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood said. Arbon worked for the Antarctic division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research when Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mt Erebus in 1979. In an interview with NZ History , he described the dangerous recovery work: "We were working on a glacier… probing for crevasses with an ice axe. One thing that stayed with me is the smell of unburnt aviation fuel." He also helped erect a memorial cross on the crash site amid gale-force winds so strong the helicopter could not be shut down. "I was asked to help erect a memorial cross on the site. This was done in a gale-force wind so bad the helicopter could not shut down. I believe this was because the wind was blowing so hard, they wouldn't be able to get the machine started without damage to the main rotors." In 1995, Arbon also assisted in recovering the bodies of 14 people who died when a viewing platform collapsed at Cave Creek. Years later, Arbon was caught up in an international drug smuggling scam . He was detained in Australia after unknowingly transporting a suitcase from Brazil that contained more than 2kg of cocaine. He was later acquitted at trial in Western Australia. His ordeal was featured in the documentary The Scam. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
