TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday announced state resources were being deployed north in “Operation Blue Ridge,” what’s meant in part to assist Floridians seeking rescue in western North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Tennessee Valley following Hurricane Helene.
At a news conference in Suwannee, DeSantis compared the operation to similar state efforts conducted over the last year in Israel and Haiti, which each saw Floridians flown out of disaster-stricken zones.
“If you look at the western part of (North Carolina,) that’s been devastation. I mean, there’s roads blown out, there’s bridges, obviously it’s very difficult terrain for anybody that’s been over there and there’s a lot of people that are basically cut off. There’s not a way you can really get a lot of things on the ground in there. So we have Chinook helicopters, we have Florida State Guard, we’ve got others that are going to go there to be able to offer assistance,” he said. “(...) If there are Floridians in that area that need to be rescued, you can sign up for that. They’re working on putting that information out, and hopefully there’s not, but in that part of the country, it draws a lot of people from Florida over the summertime. I think most people probably go back to Florida around Labor Day, but not all. Some stay through October. So we’ll see if there’s a demand for that. But our view is, if we’re going to go halfway around the world and rescue people from Israel, we gotta also be willing to go and bring some helicopters into the mountains and rescue people there if they need that type of assistance.”
Floridians in need of rescuing are urged to fill out forms for the assistance.
On Monday, Gov. DeSantis also announced an emergency order to help businesses affected by Hurricane Helene.
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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Sunday that the death toll of 11 in the state was expected to rise from Helene as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure and widespread flooding.
Cooper, speaking at a press conference, said “we know there will be more” deaths and he asked residents to avoid traveling on roadways in western North Carolina not only to avoid dangers but to keep roads clear for emergency vehicles. More than 50 search teams have fanned out across the region in search of stranded people.
More than 60 people have been killed in total, including at least 11 in Florida. Several million people were without power as of Sunday afternoon.
Among the 11 confirmed deaths in Florida were nine people who drowned in their homes in a mandatory evacuation area on the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.
[RELATED: Another system could move into the Gulf late this week; DeSantis addresses storm concerns]
According to a news release from Gov. DeSantis’ office, the following state resources are being sent to North Carolina and Tennessee to provide response and recovery assistance, as well as to help in Operation Blue Ridge:
Florida Division of Emergency Management
- One All-Hazards Incident Management Team
- One Communication Unit Strike Team
- One Telecommunications Emergency Response Task Force
- Ten Truck Loads of Water (which equates to 42, 550 gallons of water)
- Over 100 Starlinks
Florida State Guard
- Two Special Missions Search and Rescue Teams
- 8 search and rescue soldiers
- 1 aerial assessment pilot
Florida National Guard
- Two National Guard Response Teams
- 8 National Guard soldiers
- Equipment
- 2 CH-47 Chinooks and crew
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- One Law Enforcement Coordination Taskforce
- 7 FDLE agents and analysts
- One Law Enforcement Strike Team
- 7 FDLE agents and officers
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Division of Law Enforcement
- 22-man team
- 2 Captains
- 2 Team Leaders
- 12 Officers/Investigators
- 1 LE PIO
- 1Mechanic
- Equipment
- 1 SOG trailer
- 4 High-water vehicles (buggy/high water UTV)
- 3 Airboats
- 3 Shallow Draft vessels
- 18 4x4 trucks
- Aviation
- Fixed wing aircraft
- 1 pilot
- 1 tactical flight officer
Florida Department of Transportation
The Florida Department of Transportation has made the following resources available to support the immediate inspection and assessment of transportation infrastructure maintained by NCDOT and TDOT:
- Emergency Cut and Toss Strike Teams
- Infrastructure Damage Assessment Teams
- Bridge Inspection Team (including structures impacted by flood waters)
- Temporary Bridge Materials
- Hydraulic Modeling Professional
- Project & Contract Management Teams
- Public Information Officer & Emergency Communications Technology
“This is one of those moments in Florida whenever we have a hurricane, we put aside bipartisanship and we focus on delivering resources,” said Florida House of Representatives Rep. Anna Eskamani.
Eskamani is one of many collecting hygiene products, batteries and more at her office in Orlando to support victims devastated by the storm.
“For those of us that have the privilege and the safety to have a roof over our head. To have electricity, to have Internet. We need to step up and help one another night. I do think that you saw that type of support when we were impacted by hurricane Ian,” Eskamani said.
Watch DeSantis’ remarks in Suwannee again in the video player below or by clicking here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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