Speaking at a briefing Thursday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis He said first responders landed in southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian.
Operations are underway, 28 large National Guard and Coast Guard helicopters perform rescue missions, and more air assets are brought in as the day continues.
DeSantis said his office has also been working with hospitals overnight that are powered by generator power and evacuate health care facilities to safer locations.
The governor noted that in addition to the more than 2.5 million power outages reported in the state, more outages are expected in Central and Northeast Florida.
“Lee and Charlotte are basically off the grid at this point,” he explained, adding that infrastructure there was likely to be rebuilt and that the damage to the counties was “extensive.”
DeSantis said that after the communications outage, 100 portable cell towers have been deployed in southwest Florida.
Moreover, 100 engineers were on site to carry out inspections of the bridges, and he noted there were reports of structural damage to bridges such as the Sanibel Bridge and the Pine Island Basquel Bridge.
DeSantis warned that the amount of water that was and will continue to rise is essentially a 500-year flood event.
The governor said he spoke with President Biden earlier in the morning, and that more major disaster announcements are expected for more Florida counties.
The waters on the barrier islands and on the coasts are expected to recede, but DeSantis told reporters that stagnant water is likely to be inland in the coming days.
“Those who need life support devices at the moment: help is on the way,” he said, noting that efforts were focused first in the hardest-hit areas.
“The The effects of this storm are historical …But, I guess we’ve never seen a flood event like this…and it will end up causing massive damage to a lot of people’s homes,” DeSantis noted.
The governor said most school districts will be able to reopen on Friday or Monday.
Asked questions later at the press conference, DeSantis responded to a report of “hundreds” of deaths in Lee County: “So, none of that has been confirmed.”
He said the number given by Lee authorities was “essentially an estimate” of people calling 911 and saying the water is rising in their homes.
“They may not have finished,” DeSantis said, telling the reporter he hoped they would be rescued at this point.
He explained that there are two unconfirmed deaths and that their relationship to the storm has not yet been confirmed.
“I mean, our assumption is, probably,” DeSantis said.
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