An Airdrie woman and her certified disaster rescue dog searched among the destruction for people still alive days after Hurricane Milton made landfall on October 9 in Florida.
Fortunately, Maria Ilioviciu from Airdrie based Search and Rescue Dog Association of Canada (SARDAC) and her dog Cabella did not come across anyone in trouble as the area was already combed over by community members.
“The temperature, the humidity, the smells, the sounds, the environment of a disaster is nothing that you can really prepare for,” Ilioviciu said. “We train a lot, but once you're actually in the thick of a disaster, it's very different.”
Ilioviciu said she was proud of her dog’s performance and added she also served as a therapy dog for the many officers and aid workers working in the area. Just for a small moment, Cabella was able to take a little bit of stress away for many people, Ilioviciu added.
“She was doing double duty there for sure,” she said.
Ilioviciu and Cabella were initially called out by a different organization to help, but once they were down there the Port St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department requested their support. They searched destroyed homes for people alongside a team from the County Sheriff’s office and the National Guard in Port St. Lucie, which was one of the hardest hit places with well over a dozen tornadoes touching down.
Ilioviciu said the experience of meeting and seeing people impacted by the hurricane and the tornadoes was incredibly humbling.
“These people who lost everything and yet are still checking in on their neighbours and coming together as a community, it was really beautiful to see and we were very fortunate to be able to work with an amazing group of people with the County Sheriffs and with the National Guard,” Ilioviciu said. “They really came together as a team and everybody had their job to do and helped everybody else wherever they could.”
The rescue efforts were well organized, she shared, and she’s thankful for being able to help make a difference in any way she could.
Due to the huge community support, much of the rescue effort had already been made, and Ilioviciu and Cabella were there to double check to make sure nobody else was missing.
While Ilioviciu had been part of search and rescue missions before in Alberta, this was the first mission Cabella took part in. Together it was their first international deployment.
Cabella is a trained search and rescue dog, which means she finds live people trapped under rubble.
“We were only with the County Sheriff's Office for a couple days,” Ilioviciu said, noting they were in Florida from Oct. 9 to 13. “Thankfully Florida didn't get hit as hard as they were expecting, so our services weren't really required for too long.”
While she worked to support the rescue efforts during the day, she slept in her vehicle at night with her dog. With little cell reception, her support team back home organized the logistics of getting around and then back home.
After returning to Canada, she was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family a bit later than normal.
SARDAC is a small team from Airdrie and Calgary that started only a couple of years ago. They just have Cabella as their certified dog at the moment, but they’re always looking to help out the community in any way possible, Ilioviciu explained.
While still getting their name out there, they hope local law enforcement and other organizations are able to use their services.
“We've worked with and trained with a couple of ground SAR teams, so we've trained with the southern Alberta search and rescue and the Foothills search and rescue,” she said. “But we haven't gone out on any missions with them in the area.”
Ilioviciu worked in law enforcement for a little while before getting her rescue dog.
Cabella is what she calls a “shelter special” mixed breed dog, with lots of energy and positive drive.
“She's proven to be a pretty amazing little dog and so we're just using our skills to do what we can to help other people,” Ilioviciu said.
SARDAC is totally volunteer run and requires donations to keep going. For those looking to support the organization, go to SARDAC.ca.
