Scenes from SoCal, Venezuela: Hope battles with despair after quakes

They arrived with rescue dogs, advanced listening devices and cutting tools that could tear through concrete.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s international urban search and rescue team descended on a collapsed 10-story high-rise in Caraballeda, a coastal town devastated by Venezuela’s back-to-back earthquakes, as part of a fight to find survivors.

Deputy Fire Chief Trey Espy, who was at the scene, said residents told authorities they believed eight people were trapped in the massive pile of debris. Espy told The Times that rescue workers heard noises that raised the possibility that someone was still alive below.

With each day that passes since the twin earthquakes, one measuring 7.5 and the other measuring 7.2, hit Venezuela, the chances of saving survivors diminish, leaving nearly 1,500 people dead and tens of thousands missing.

Espy described the situation as “very dire” as many tall buildings in the tourist destination have been razed or flattened.

“No matter where you look, everything seems to have collapsed or slipped off its foundations,” he said. “Some were completely destroyed. Some buildings collapsed on top of other buildings.”

As LA County’s rescue team continued its work, Southern Californians mobilized to gather much-needed supplies while seeking answers about the loss of their loved ones.

Volunteers at a restaurant in Pasadena Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine He gathered supplies by making a special request for bandages, gauze, painkillers and other over-the-counter medications.

Augusto Giancola, who is helping with the effort, said three to four people arrive every hour “with trunks full of belongings.”

“There’s a sense of hopelessness,” the Pasadena resident said. “But we are very hopeful people. The important thing at this point is to find out what we can do and how we can help.”

In downtown Los Angeles, dozens of volunteers collected donations on the sidewalk in front of Venezuelan restaurant Full Arepas. Volunteers organized the supplies (toothbrushes, baby wipes, instant soup, and many other items) and loaded them into boxes, drawing hearts on the outside with magic marker.

Volunteers collect donations on the sidewalk in front of Venezuelan restaurant Full Arepa in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday.

(David Zahniser/Los Angeles Times)

By mid-afternoon, the U-haul truck next to the restaurant was filled with donations.

Kelly Montano, owner of Full Arepas, said members of her own family — her father, mother, cousin and several others — have been missing since the earthquakes. He said organizing the relief effort and running the business kept him strong as he waited for news about his family.

“It’s hard,” said Montano, who came to the United States in 2015. “It’s hard and I don’t know what’s going on right now.”

By mid-afternoon, LA County rescue workers in Venezuela had begun work at another 10-story building (this one was partially destroyed) where a guard was trapped in the security booth of the underground parking lot.

Rescuers stand above collapsed buildings in Caraballeda, Venezuela, on Sunday.

(AFP via Miguel Medina / Pool / AP)

Espy said the team began cutting through concrete and steel to reach the man, who could be heard but not seen.

“We’re about 100 feet away from him,” he said. “It will take us 12 hours, maybe more, to free him.”

The county’s rescue team included not only firefighters and paramedics, but also doctors from the Department of Health Services and structural engineers trained to assess heavily damaged buildings, Espy said.

The team, known as USA-2, is in Venezuela along with USA-1, which consists of fire rescue workers from Virginia’s Fairfax County.

Espy said USA-1 rescue crews pulled three people, including a 9-month-old baby, from the wreckage. The US State Department, which launched the international rescue operation, gave the good news of this success.

“Despite impossible odds, hope endures,” the agency said. social media post.