It’s been a week since the massive earthquake destroyed Port-Au-Prince in Haiti, and there hasn’t been a lot of good news coming out of the region.  Aid trickles in, hampered more by a lack of infrastructure in country than any lack of sympathy by the world.  Bodies remain in the streets and crushed in buildings, and the smoke rising from burning corpse piles can be seen in many locations around town.  As the reality of the devastation sinks in, the task ahead for Haiti – and those who will have to step in to rebuild it – is daunting.

One bright spot amid the darkness is well-known to those of us in SoCal.  The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Heavy Rescue Task Force is one of the best in the world when it comes to dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes, having prepared to face the inevitable “Big One” here in SoCal.  When the first rescuers hit the ground in Haiti, the lack of resources and organization stymied their efforts, but not CRT2 – they came fully staffed, supplied and prepared.  Once a flatbed truck had been appropriated, they were a mobile rescue unit, moving site to site and applying their expertise to pull victim after victim out of the rubble.

Because it was clear that they were among the more effective groups in those chaotic first days, they attracted significant media attention.  Several SoCal news crews are in Port-Au-Prince, and have been documenting the efforts of their local team, but even CNN’s Anderson Cooper has followed the team around, turning them into something of a media sensation, particularly with the attention that came with their rescue of the “singing woman” earlier this week:

Ironically, as the team works to save lives in Haiti, SoCal faces one of its biggest challenges in years as a series of nasty rainstorms moves into the area.  The good news is that there are plenty of Urban Search and Rescue teams left here to get the job done.

You can follow the ongoing efforts of CA-TF2 at the LACFD’s Daily Briefings page.

And of course, if you haven’t already – and even if you have, if you can – click on the banner at the top of any SCMO page to donate to the Red Cross Haiti relief effort. They’re gonna need a lot of help for a very long time.