Lakeland Police Dive Team Trains in a Fathom Tank After Hurricane Milton

Read on WFLA 8Lakeland officers undergo water rescue training after 'shock' from last year's flooding

When Hurricane Milton hit Florida in October 2024, it pushed water into Lakeland neighborhoods that had never flooded before. In mobile home communities across the city, water stood several feet deep inside homes. Residents climbed onto counters, and some waved from their doorways for help.

The Lakeland Police Department's eight-member dive team answered those calls and brought dozens of people to safety. Team members described the moving water as fast and dangerous, with currents far beyond anything they had trained for. The rescues succeeded, but the officers came away convinced they needed better preparation before the next storm.

A Dive Team Faces a Different Kind of Water

A police dive team trains for underwater search and recovery, and that work rarely involves current. Floodwater rescue is a different discipline. Responders have to read moving water, enter and leave flooded areas safely, and protect themselves from what the water carries. After Milton, team members said openly that they hadn't been properly trained for the work they were suddenly asked to do.

A Week in a Fathom Tank

To close that gap, the team spent a week at Fayetteville Technical Community College's Swift Water Rescue Training Facility in North Carolina. The facility is built around a 140,000-gallon indoor tank made by Fathom Tanks.

Inside the tank, instructors can recreate the conditions Lakeland's officers faced during Milton, and push past them:

• Running current that can be adjusted for each drill
• Nighttime and severe-weather simulation
• Obstacles such as vehicles and culverts
• Simulated victims for full rescue scenarios

The curriculum covered safe ways to enter and exit flooded areas, a skill the team had little formal training in before. It also covered the contaminants found in floodwater, from fuel and oil to pesticides.

Six of the team's eight members came home certified in water rescue, high-water rescue and swiftwater rescue. The department plans to certify the remaining members, and certification must be renewed every five years.

New Gear to Match

Lakeland also re-equipped the team. Officers received new helmets and protective gear rated for contaminated water, along with new inflatable rescue boats that can be rowed, waded or carried through flooded streets.

Why Indoor Training Works

Lakeland's experience shows why agencies are turning to indoor water simulation. A natural river can't be booked for a week, set to a specific current or run safely at night with new trainees. In a Fathom tank, instructors control every variable. Teams can repeat the hardest scenarios until the skills hold, in clean water and with a quick shut-off if something goes wrong.

It also shows the demand. A Florida police department traveled out of state to find this kind of training. As more communities face flooding they've never seen before, more agencies will need realistic water rescue training closer to home.