AT LEAST UNTIL 12:30, LET’S SAY UNTIL 1:00 A.M., URGED TO STAY IN HOMES BECAUSE OF DUST AND
DEGREE IN THE AIR.
LET’S GET OVER TO LOCAL TEN NEWS
REPORTER TERRELL FORNAY ON THE
GROUND AS THE REMAINING TOWER
WENT DOWN.
MANY PEOPLE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT
ANIMALS BEING IN THE BUILDING.
WE RECEIVED NUMEROUS PHONE CALLS
AND MESSAGES ABOUT IT.
>> TERRELL CONTINUES THE TEAM
COVERAGE RIGHT NOW.
TERRELL?
>> TERRELL: YEAH.
WE’RE ABOUT TWO BLOCKS SOUTH OF
THAT TOWER, THAT PORTION THAT
JUST CAME DOWN AND THAT PLANNED
DEMOLITION.
BUT THE SEARCH AND RESCUE CREWS
HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR ANIMALS,
BECAUSE SO MANY ANIMAL LOVERS
HAVE MADE AND THEY KNOW SOME
BELOVED PETS WERE INSIDE OF THE
BUILDING.
BEFORE I SHOW YOU ANYTHING ELSE,
I WANT TO TAKE YOU TO THESE LIVE
PICTURES JUST ACROSS THE WAY
OVER THERE.
YOU SEE THESE DOZENS AND DOZENS
OF FIRST RESPONDERS RIGHT NOW
MEETING BEFORE THEY HEAD BACK TO
THE SITE.
THEY ARE WAITING OBVIOUSLY FOR
THIS SCENE TO BE DEEMED CLEAR SO
THEY CAN CONTINUE THE SEARCH AND
RESCUE PROCESS OF ACTUALLY GOING
THROUGH THAT RUBBLE.
THESE ANIMAL LOVERS, THEY
RECOGNIZE THE HUGE TRAGEDY AND
THE HUGE, YOU KNOW, AMOUNT OF
LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN LOST IN
THIS TOWER.
24 CONFIRMED LIVES LOST.
121 PEOPLE STILL MISSING AT THIS
POINT, THEIR FATE NOT KNOWN.
BUT THOSE ANIMAL LOVERS DON’T
WANT PEOPLE TO LOSE SIGHT OF,
YOU KNOW, JUST THE PETS THAT
WERE IN THERE AS WELL, PERHAPS
POTENTIALLY THAT WERE LEFT
HELPLESS INSIDE OF THAT BUILDING
SO WHEN THIS TOWER CAME DOWN IN
JUST THOSE FEW SECONDS, ALL HOPE
WAS CERTAINLY LOST IN FINDING
ANY ANIMALS ALIVE.
A CAT NAMED COCOA, ANOTHER
FELINE NAMED MIA ARE A PAIR OF
ANIMALS LAST SEEN INSIDE OF THE
CHAMPLAIN PORTIONS SOUTH
BUILDING STANDING.
ANIMAL LOVERS HAVE RELAYED
MESSAGES TO SEARCH AND RESCUE
TEAMS ABOUT MORE BELOVED DOGS
AND BIRDS LEFT BEHIND ON THE
NIGHT OF THE COLLAPSE AS SOME
PEOPLE BARELY ESCAPED WITH THEIR
OWN LIVES.
>> THOSE WHO WERE FORCED TO
EVACUATED THE REMAINING PORTION
OF THE BUILDING LEFT THEIR
ENTIRE LIVES BEHIND.
>> THE CITY AND COUNTY LEADERS
SUNDAY, WE’VE LEARNED JUST HOW
MUCH EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO
FIND THOSE LOST PETS.
>> THREE FULL SWEEPS OF THE
PREMISE, INCLUDING SEARCHING IN
CLOSETS, UNDER BEDS, AND ALL THE
OTHER PLACES THAT THEY COULD TO
SEEK AN ANIMAL THAT MIGHT HAVE
BEEN THERE.
>> AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT
THOSE TEAMS HAVE BEEN UP AND
DOWN, INSIDE THAT BUILDING, AND
THEY HAVE TOLD ME STRAIGHT UP
THAT HAD THEY SEEN A PET, HAD
THEY SEEN A CAGE, THEY WOULD
HAVE GRABBED IT.
>> SEARCH TEAMS HAVE EVEN USED
DRONES WITH THERMAL IMAGING
CAMERAS AND AND HIGH LIFT CRANES
TO PLACE LIVE ANIMAL TRAPS ON UN
STABLE AREAS AND BALCONIES, SO
FAR IT’S ALL BEEN MET WITH
NEGATIVE RESULTS.
>> THEY USED ALL POSSIBLE
TECHNOLOGY, FROM THE MOST RUDY
AMERICAN TRY TO THE MOST
SOPHISTICATED, TO TRY TO MAKE
SURE THAT THERE WERE NO PETS
THAT WERE ABLE TO BE RESCUED IN
>> FOLKS TO BE SURE WE’VE NOT
LEFT ANYTHING BEHIND, INCLUDING
BELOVED PETS.
>> SO NO PETS WERE FOUND BEFORE
THAT BUILDING CAME DOWN IN JUST
A MATTER OF SECONDS, THOSE LOUD
BOOMS WERE REALLY JARRING, YOU
KNOW?
THOSE DETONATION DEVICES THAT
WERE PLACED INSIDE OF THE
COLUMNS, WE’RE TOLD THAT THEY
WERE ACTUALLY DRILLED INTO THE
COLUMS IN VARIOUS POINTS OF
THAT STANDING STRUCTURE AND WHEN
THE TIME CAME, THOSE DETONATIONS
CAME AND THAT BUILDING CAME DOWN
JUST WITHIN A MATTER OF SECONDS.
AND NOW YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, A
BIG OPEN SPACE, THAT SKYLINE
HERE IN SURF SIDE IS CHANGED AS
OF NOW AS THE FOCUS CONTINUES ON
THE GROUND AND GOING THROUGH THE
MOUNDS OF DEBRIS.
I SHOWED YOU THE SEARCH AND
RESCUE TEAMS TO THE SIDE,
SHOULDER BY SHOULDER MEETING
BEFORE THEY GET THE ALL CLEAR TO
GO BACK INTO THE SITE.
I’M TOLD THIS IS SOMETHING THEY
ARE VERY EAGER TO DO, BECAUSE
THEY REALLY WANT TO REUNITE
EVERY LOVED ONE WITH THEIR
FAMILY.
THEY KNOW SO MANY MORE PEOPLE
ARE STILL MISSING INSIDE OF THAT
RUBBLE.
AND YOU HAVE TO, THAT ONE THIRD
OF THAT RUBBLE, AS MUCH WORK
THAT WAS DONE HERE, ONE-THIRD OF
THAT RUBBLE WAS BASICALLY AFTER
LIMITS, JUST BECAUSE OF THE
DANGER THAT THESE FIRST
RESPONDERS WERE FACING.
SO ONCE THEY GET THE ALL CLEAR,
THEN THEY CAN GO IN AND CONTINUE
THE WORK THAT THEY’VE BEEN
WORKING SO HARD TO DO OF