This past Sunday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated that he had spent time out in the field handing out food and doing a survey of the damage inflicted by Hurricane Ian as it swept over the state late last week.
This update from the governor comes in the wake of an already confirmed 76 deaths in the state where we have seen entire communities completely removed from the map due to the intense winds and massive storm surges.
The office of the governor highlighted that DeSantis has put in place a suspension on the fuel tax for the state in order to assist in lowering the financial burden for its people and that the governor was heavily promoting debris removal in the various communities where it had been deemed safe enough to come back.
The office stated that well over 42,000 linemen that were working hard all over the state had already managed to get power back up and running for almost 2 million homes and that their work to get power services back for another 800,000 accounts was still underway.
As of this past Sunday morning, well over 1,600 rescues had been carried out by more than 1,000 search and rescue team members stretched out over 14 impacted counties.
“The National Guard and the Coast Guard are landing helicopters on barrier islands to perform search and rescue,” explained the office of the governor. “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.”
A large supply of ice, water, and food has already been moved down to the various local communities in need, which included well over 829,000 MREs and over 3.8 million bottles of water.
“Worked with Florida Baptist Relief to distribute food and water to residents of Naples,” explained DeSantis via social media. “@CaseyDeSantis and I have been encouraged by the outpouring of prayers and assistance for Floridians in need. Keep up the good work!”
Worked with Florida Baptist Relief to distribute food and water to residents of Naples.
@CaseyDeSantis and I have been encouraged by the outpouring of prayers and assistance for Floridians in need. Keep up the good work! pic.twitter.com/hpikyg6QPw— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 2, 2022
I spent time passing out food and water with the @FLGuard from one of our PODs in Lee County. We have PODs open to help those recovering from #HurricaneIan.
To find a POD near you, visit: https://t.co/Io8r6Bbog4 pic.twitter.com/EOPXJi2JKp— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 2, 2022
We have resources on the ground and more on the way to help DeSoto County recover from #HurricaneIan.
When the cameras go away, we will still be here to help rebuild. pic.twitter.com/6Y088POeyZ
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 3, 2022
The governor shared, via social media, the instance in which he met with a local woman who had had her home wiped away by the storm.
“Today, I met with Marta, who had her house destroyed and was rescued by one of our high-water vehicles,” tweeted out DeSantis. “Damage from #HurricaneIan flooding extends across the state, but our people are resilient.”
Today, I met with Marta, who had her house destroyed and was rescued by one of our high-water vehicles.
Damage from #HurricaneIan flooding extends across the state, but our people are resilient. pic.twitter.com/1dNn4XKlcG
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 1, 2022
Kevin Ruane, the Lee County Commissioner, stated this past Sunday that he was heavily disappointed with just how many people grew complacent with the power of the storm and refused to get out before the storm crashed into the state.
“As soon as we saw the model shift northeast, we did exactly what we could to encourage people to” expressed Ruane. “I’m just disappointed that so many people didn’t go to shelters, because they’re open.”
“I think the most important thing that most people need to understand is we opened up 15 shelters. During Irma there were 60,000 people in our shelters. There’s 4,000 people in the shelters right now,” concluded the commissioner. “Unfortunately, people did get complacent … As far as I’m concerned, the shelters were open, they had the ability, they had all day Tuesday, they had a good part of Wednesday as the storm was coming down – they had the ability to (go to a shelter).”
