SURFSIDE, Fla. — More bodies have been found at the condo collapse site in Surfside, Florida, bringing the death toll to 36 with 109 people still unaccounted for.
Crews from across the country are assisting in the search efforts, including first responders from Ohio Task Force 1. About 80 members from the Buckeye State are working around the clock in Surfside while battling the heat, humidity, rain and emotion.
Plans Team Manager John Kaminski is more than 1,100 miles away from his family in Ohio as he works with the task force. The team has one goal: Find the missing people.
"Seeing that wall, that memorial with the missing people, stapled or taped up and seeing all the faces that are still missing, that's tough, that's really tough," Kaminski said. "But it gets you in the mode that you need to go to work."
The team's fight is fierce, with so much working against them as weather conditions had them evacuating the site several times Tuesday.
"I think the hardest part is knowing that there are still people in the pile and we still need to get to them," Kaminski lamented. "We are here to help the families locate their missing loved ones and bring them some closure, so what that does is give them that drive."
Task Force 1 has located bodies in the rubble since assisting in the efforts at the site.
"There's a lot of emotions involved in that," Kaminksi admitted. "We are going to continue to move on with that miracle and hope that there is somebody there."
Task Force 1 could be in Florida for two weeks or more. Once they leave, more members of Ohio will go to Surfside to assist in the mission.