Five men, two dogs. During a break from training a few months ago. It’s Minnesota Task Force 1 K-9 Unit, one of two crack Minnesota units trained for catastrophic rescues and searches.
170 persons feared still buried in miles of muck
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz dispatched an elite K-9 unit to aid for search and recovery operations in the Texas Hill Country where the flooding Guadalupe River killed 129 people. Still missing seven days later: 170. About the Minnesota K-9 unit, Walz said: “Their heroic work will make a difference.” The team of five rescuers and two K-9s is equipped for 24-hour operations in disaster zones with little or no infrastructure. The unit left Minnesota in a convoy of vans and trailers loaded with gear for the 1,500-mile trip. The team is one of two units in a Minnesota task force trained to deal with structural collapses and natural disasters. Minnesota is a member of a 50-state mutual-aid pact
With gear unpacked for routine maintenance at task force garage. Images: Minnesota Public Safety Department
Trump at his knee-jerk defensive worst
President toured a section the devastated upper Guadalupe basin on Friday. Although he expressed condolences, Trump refused to acknowledge failure of his Federal Emergency Management Agency to respond to the flood. To a news reporter who asked about the lapse, Trump stated: “Only a very evil person would ask a question like that.” Fact: Trump’s appointed cabinet member in charge of the FEMA disaster relief agency, former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, took 72 hours to respond. Also: Trump has fired 20% of FEMA’s staff, roughly 1,000 people, since January. The goal, he has announced, is to eliminate the agency entirely to save costs.