Police rescue crews with monster amphibious vehicles are this evening going house to house in a severely flooded area near Tampa – which could receive even more water as a result of deadly Hurricane Milton.
The water rescue capabilities are possible with all-terrain vehicles designed to tackle the most extreme off-road conditions, including overtaking fallen trees and obstacles that reach up to 3 feet high.
The vehicles, which also float, were a key factor in the rescue efforts of more than 500 residents in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Sheriff’s deputies have already dramatically plucked a 91-year-old woman to safety from her home in the small city of Lithia today after the Alafia River burst its banks.
Lithia residents were facing more than six feet of flooding as of Thursday.
Rafts and airboats are also being used to assist in evacuation and rescues in the area.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office conducted dozens of more rescues in the Tampa area, including bringing more than 135 residents of an assisted living facility to safety, CBS News reported.
Now the specialist cops have been joined by private rescue experts from Texas with their own equipment – after DailyMail.com was told a release of extra water into the area was ‘imminent’ to ease pressure elsewhere.
The race against time to ensure there are no more people in their homes before the area is possibly swamped even further follows search and rescue efforts in the morning amid flood waters rising to more than 6ft.
An astonishing 16 inches of rain fell in the area as a result of Category 3 Milton, which claimed 17 lives in Florida.
So much rainwater was dumped over parts of the Tampa Bay area that it qualified as a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event, NBC News reported.
Now officials are facing devastating run off that still threatens communities.
The National Weather Service has issued additional flood warnings for certain areas, especially for locations along the Alafia River.
Milton has pushed the Alafia River to its highest recorded flooding in Lithia since 1933 – exceeding 23 feet by Friday afternoon which is four feet higher than what’s designated as major flooding, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
The river could rise at least another foot higher and residents are urged to take extreme precaution.
DailyMail.com witnessed one emergency team on an airboat in the latest search approach a house and shout: ‘Are you OK? Anybody in there?’ They then moved on.
A seven-man team from Global Animal Rescue and Response based in Hamilton, Texas, prepared their equipment in a staging area near the floodwaters.
One of its members, who preferred to be known only as Joe, told DailyMail.com: ‘There is going to be a lot more flooding and potential evacuation. We don’t know if there are still people there, but we’re going to find out.’
Milton made landfall Wednesday with 120mph winds, drenching coastal and island communities before the hurricane spawned more than 30 deadly tornadoes.
As of Friday afternoon, two million residents were still without power. More than three-quarters of gas stations in Tampa Bay still don’t have gas.
As boats and the specialist amphibious vehicles went door to door, dozens of residents were still stranded by floodwaters that rose chest high.
Those who were rescued were taken to dry land. Residents who live in elevated homes or have access to their own canoes and boats chose to stay put.
The Sherriff’s Office and the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue have conducted around 200 rescues in the last two days, the Tampa Bay Times added.
As rescue teams headed out by boat into the darkness, they came across a man well over 6-feet-tall who was carrying two children on his shoulder. The water nearly reached the man’s neck.
A woman who was rescued begged crews to save her pets. They ended up returning her six cats and seven birds.
Rescue crews in heavily flooded areas noted how devastating the water level was – some smaller houses were completely flooded with only the roof visible and several cars and trucks were almost completely submerged.
Brooke Callis, a Lithia resident, headed back to her parents’ home after learning how extensive the flooding was in an attempt to save her pig.
The 400-pound farm animal had swam from its pen and was found tangled in barb wire with cuts and blood at the bottom of her legs from the flooding, the Tampa Bay Times added. But they were ultimately reunited.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to DailyMail.com about the apparent latest operation or any water release plans. One cop we spoke to described the latest searches as a ‘precaution’.
Sheriff Chad Chronister told deputies at the scene after the first operation: ‘Thank you guys, keep gutting it out.
‘We knew with this storm, storm surge comes in, does its damage and leaves. And flooding’s different. We’ve had 16 inches of rain and that has to go somewhere.
‘We’re out here, we’re in the heat, we’re doing what we’re doing. We’re truly in this together.’
President Biden said on Friday that the damage left from Hurricane Milton could total $50 billion.