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According to gostructural.com "The USAR Task Force System was conceived after the 1985 Mexico Earthquake when, after the first three days after the disaster, more people died trying to rescue people than were rescued. Structural engineers are included in deployments to assist in searching buildings and determining the shoring required for the safety of the rescuers. As they perform search operations, the USAR Teams spray paint a large "X" on the structure to indicate the status of their efforts. The quadrants of the "X" are used to indicate when the structure was searched, which task force performed the search, what hazards are present, and how many victims are trapped in the building. If the trapped victims can not be easily removed, then the USAR teams bring in equipment to remove debris and carefully shore up the structure to prevent further collapse during the rescue.

After Katrina, FEMA USAR teams from 15 states carried out hasty/primary searches and secondary searches. The goal of the hasty/primary searches was to find and evacuate victims in the first 12 days after the hurricane. Later, secondary searches were conducted door to door in areas where flooding was higher than 5.5 feet above the floor of the buildings. Buildings were entered and re-secured during the secondary searches. More information on FEMA urban search and rescue teams can be obtained from the FEMA website at www.fema.gov/emergency/usr/about.shtm."

In terms of the picture above the house was first searched on September 15th by a team deployed from New Jersey and thankfully nobody was inside.

The slash on the door indicates that the house was not entered.