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Friday, May 30, 1997

New search technology used in store flattened by storm

CEDAR PARK, Texas (AP) - An urban search and rescue team created in the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing underwent its inaugural mission seeking survivors who may have been trapped in a grocery store.

A dozen of the Austin Fire Department's 23 search-and-rescue members sorted through the debris of a tornado-ravaged Albertson's store Wednesday. They used extra-sensitive microphones to detect sounds of survivors, and small video cameras mounted on a fiber-optic cable snaked into crevices, said Kem Bennett, head of the search and rescue operation.

Cedar Park, 15 miles north of Austin, was hit by a tornado Tuesday afternoon, although not as severely as Jarrell, 23 miles farther north on Interstate 35, where at least two dozen people died.

Throughout Wednesday's operation in the Albertson's, observers kept a close watch on the store's buckled outer walls, which were leaning in over the heads of rescue workers. To detect movement, bright marks were painted on the two-story walls and bright lights were trained on the marks.

"If those marks move, it's 'Katy bar the door.' Everyone's out," Bennett said.

Shortly before sunrise Wednesday, searchers sent in the "tunnel rats," Bennett told the Austin American-Statesman. "They're the little guys who can get down and crawl around in those small spaces."

With no evidence that anyone else was in the building, rescuers suspended the search by mid-morning. By noontime, Albertson's executives were surveying the damage, and the state health department had declared all the food and pharmaceuticals in the building contaminated.

"Because of the high-pressure disturbance caused by tornadoes, even sealed jars can have dirt and debris in them," said Michael Campbell, state health department inspector.

Wednesday's search was aided by the microphones, cameras and other special equipment brought in by the Texas Engineering Extension Service, which responds to emergencies across the state.

Moved by emergency crews' difficulties after the Oklahoma City bombing, the service last year created the Urban Search and Rescue Team - 186 firefighters, doctors, structural engineers and other professionals who provide disaster relief on short notice.

"I think it went very well," Austin fire specialist David Belknap said of the first operation by the new unit. "They responded very quickly."

As part of the Texas A&M University System, the extension service keeps 24 tons of rescue equipment in College Station. The items can be moved by National Guard plane or by vehicle, as was done for Cedar Park, Bennett said.

Team members receive training in search techniques and in using the service's special equipment, which for Cedar Park included two diamond-tipped saws capable of cutting through steel and concrete.

Future training will include biochemical contamination. Bennett wants the team to be capable of responding to any natural disaster or terrorist act.

"You have to be ready for anything," he said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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