Florida Response to Hurricane Ian Continues

Flgov.com, October 2, 2022

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis received a briefing at the State Emergency Operations Center and is traveling to North Port and Arcadia to survey the areas impacted by Hurricane Ian, distribute hot food, meet with survivors, and issue updates.

 Governor DeSantis also highlighted relief efforts that directly aid Floridians, including the start of the fuel tax holiday, and promoted debris removal in communities where it is safe to do so. There are currently 42,000 linemen responding to the more than 840,000 reported power outages. They have already restored power to more than 1.8 million accounts across the state.

 First Lady Casey DeSantis announced that the Florida Disaster Fund has raised over $21 million in the first 48 hours of activation. To read more info, click here. The Florida Disaster Fund is the State of Florida’s official private fund established to provide financial assistance to our communities as they respond to and recover from times of emergency or disaster. In partnership with public, private, and other non-governmental organizations, the Florida Disaster Fund supports response and recovery activities. To contribute, please visit www.FloridaDisasterFund.org or text DISASTER to 20222.

 Safe and found persons can be reported safe at http://safe.fl.gov.

 State response efforts include:

Search and Rescue

  • As of 7 a.m. today, more than 1,600 rescues have been made.
  • There are more than 1,000 team members performing search and rescue.
  • Florida National Guard members are conducting Liaison missions in 14 counties to support and coordinate emergency response missions and requests in those counties.
  • Florida National Guard engineering resources were deployed to assist with route clearance in Pinellas and Lee Counties.
  • The Missouri Task Force 1 Disaster Situational Assessment and Reconnaissance (DSAR) Team is deploying to Florida through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact to support urban search and rescue efforts and incident assessment.
  • A Florida Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Team deployed to Central Florida to support state USAR Task Forces and incident assessment.
  • The National Guard and the Coast Guard are landing helicopters on barrier islands to perform search and rescue.
    • Yesterday, 1,000 National Guard were sent to the barrier islands to help expedite efforts.
  • Following Governor DeSantis’ authorization, over 5,200 Florida Guardsmen have been activated to State Active Duty for Hurricane Ian response operations. The Florida National Guard are supporting a total of 152 active missions.
  • Several POD sites became operational as of 10/1, distributing food, water, and ice to local populations:
    • 406 pallets of water distributed
    • 347 pallets of food distributed
    • 62 pallets of ice distributed

 

News article: https://www.flgov.com/2022/10/02/florida-response-to-hurricane-ian-continues-4/