BEAUMONT, Texas — People from Beaumont and beyond are volunteering to help a non-profit organization rescue residents in Florida following Hurricane Ian.
Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 4 storm. Ian has been described as one of the strongest storms to have ever hit the U.S.
Ian later weakened into a tropical storm, strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane and made landfall again in South Carolina on Friday. So far, at least nine deaths have been reported.
GulfSAR is helping Florida’s Office of Emergency Management with evacuations. Organization members are also helping to stage for immediate flood and swift-water rescues amid the impact of Hurricane Ian.
Crews, boats and personal watercrafts arrived in Tampa Tuesday morning and have since moved down to the Cape Coral-Fort Meyers area.
On Thursday, as soon as it was safe to venture out during Ian’s landfall, GulfSAR crews began making water rescues. Crews were clearing incident tickets provided by Florida Emergency Services.
Volunteers are currently working on Sanibel Island, which was cut off from the mainland, doing boat rescues and helping get stranded residents to safety.
Crews are also going door to door to look for residents who stayed behind to ride out the hurricane. Volunteers are experiencing flooding, debris, downed trees, power and cell service interruptions.
GulfSAR is continuously monitoring rapidly changing weather conditions in the Atlantic Ocean and in particular, the Gulf of Mexico. Crews may move to follow Ian depending on the path and what efforts are needed as it continues up the coast.
Organization members believe preparation is key to having successful deployments and said, "we are prepared."
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