Miami-Dade First Responders Brought Comfort, Love To Panhandle

PANAMA CITY, FL — Miami Beach police officer Elio Oliva caught the eye of a three-year-old child earlier this week whose family had just been told that their home was no longer safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.

"The residents in that community had just found out their buildings were being condemned due to the effects of Hurricane Michael," explained Officer Ernesto Rodriguez of the Miami Beach Police Department, which sent 41 officers to help out in devastated areas of the Panhandle. "The residents have been without light, food, communications or transportation."

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But, Officer Oliva had a secret stash of teddy bears in his trunk that could make things a little better. He handed over a powder blue bear to the young girl and, in so doing, eased the suffering of her entire family for a little while.

"He only had a few bears with him. They are the bears we collected a few months back specifically for our officers to have during critical incidents," said Rodriguez.

Oliva is one of dozens of Miami-Dade first responders who made the trip to Florida's hard hit Panhandle region to make a difference. In many cases, they slept in tents.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami Fire Rescue both sent large search and rescue teams that were in place before the storm and remained there in its aftermath. Miami-Dade police also sent dozens of officers in the days following the life-changing storm.

The first responders conducted house-to-house searches, directed traffic, handed out emergency supplies, provided a police presence to guard against looting and offered their shoulders to fellow Floridians in these dire times.

Some who have lost their homes are fellow first responders.

"Our team lives for the opportunity to be able to touch people's lives in a positive way," observed Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Deputy Chief Rick Clements of the Miami-Beach Police Department went with his son, Miami Beach Officer Patrick Clements to make it a family affair.

Capt. Ignatius Carroll of Miami Fire Rescue said that his 81-member team performed seven straight days of emergency rescues on land and water around the hardest hit area of Mexico Beach, Florida.

"During our searches, we came across a variety of animals that survived the storm, but were now homeless," he said. "Crews provided food and water to them and attempted to find their owners or new homes."

Even after those missions, team members wanted to do more.

"The team packed up their food at their base camp and distributed to families who had not eaten in days," said Carroll.

"While walking the streets, crews came across families, church groups and shelters that were finally receiving some relief supplies," he added. "They assisted with unloading food and water as well as cutting trees away from residential homes."

Watch below as Erika Benitez of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue describes the life-saving work that has been taking place:

Back home in Miami-Dade, the Aventura Police Department led a multi-agency effort to send several trucks of generators, diapers and other supplies to the Panhandle.

The caravan departed on Wednesday from Aventura Mall. Watch below:

The Miami Beach officers also rescued a family of four puppies that were trapped inside a locked home. They returned to visit the puppies a day later.

"We responded to a call of dogs left behind in Panama City," the officers said later on social media. "Officers found four puppies locked inside the home and the mom outside. Officers crawled through the damaged side of the home to rescue the puppies. Mom and puppies are now safe with the local ASPCA."

Here Miami-Dade Police Director offers words of encouragement as his officers depart for the Panhandle:

"They’ve done so much up there," explained Rodriguez, who said that Miami Beach officers were headed back on Thursday though many wanted to stay longer.

"We handed the baton to their agencies and will re-evaluate the needs of our partners in the coming days," he added.

As a thank you, dozens of people turned out all around Miami-Dade to welcome back their heroes at multiple homecomings this week.

Photos and videos courtesy Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Miami Fire Rescue, Miami Beach Police Department and Aventura Police Department