Power Update:
For those who follow us on social media, it is no secret how proud we are of all the linemen and utility workers. Thanks to planning and preparation, thousands were staged, prepared, equipped, and immediately responded in force!! We have shared periodic updates regarding the power situation in Florida. We are happy to announce as of 5pm on Friday October 7th, 2022, just over 100,000 are still without power.
While we realize this is still a lot of people, please keep in mind we initially had well over 2 million without power!! In other words, approximately 95% of the power has been restored and that is absolutely incredible and simply amazing!!
Death toll:
There is no way to beat around the bush on this. The reality is the amount of people (and pets) sadly killed as a result of this storm is far worse than what many media outlets have reported. This is one of the deadliest and largest storms to hit Florida in almost 100 years.
Reports indicate Hurricane Ian is the second deadliest to hit the United States this century. Hurricane Katrina resulted in approximately 1,800 people killed in 2005 and the Great Galveston Hurricane resulted in approximately 8,000 killed in 1900.
We will spare you the actual observations and descriptions from some of our own volunteers who are working the area. On a related note though, we hope all those involved in search and recovery efforts take the appropriate mental health resources seriously. We are a phone call or message away and our support list can always be accessed here: TSF Support Resources. Being tasked with this is at times rewarding but at other times, extremely taxing, emotional, and raw.
Earlier today, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno announced 59 total deaths in Lee County alone. According to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission, we are now hearing a confirmed 101 total deaths so far. Keep in mind some areas have yet to even be searched or accessed.
Fundraising efforts:
Team South Florida, escorted by members of the Blue Knights LE MC, made our first trip to Southwest Florida this week. We delivered donations to Fire Stations, Police Departments, Sheriff’s Offices, and several personal residences to meet first responders in need.
We were made aware that the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Patriot Guard were setup in Fort Myers providing thousands of hot dogs, hamburgers, and water to those in the community in need of a hot meal and water. We were fortunate to be able to donate several hundred bottles of water to assist with their efforts as well.
We have been contacted by several from out of State law enforcement agencies offering to help. There are quite a few organizations and fundraisers doing great things. To those wishing to support Team South Florida’s efforts, please know just like with Hurricane Michael, our support is for the community, but as a reminder, focused on law enforcement, fire rescue, ems, dispatch, military, and their families, because they too are part of the very same community they are helping.
The easiest way to help support our efforts is a financial donation via the fundraiser setup on Instagram, Facebook, Venmo @TeamSouthFlorida , or on our website at www.TeamSouthFlorida.org.
ALL financial donations received for the month of October are being put towards our Hurricane Ian relief mission.
The second easiest way to help is by ordering something off of our Amazon Request List (https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1F6IOBX5D9XTS). Items listed here have specifically been requested. Orders are setup to be shipped to our brothers and sisters at 13 Fifty Apparel Headquarters. They are being kind enough to hold onto everything for us and we will be picking everything up before each trip to the West Coast.
As of now we plan on making multiple trips over the next several months and have actually had volunteers in the area several times this week alone already.
In closing, please support each other, be there for each other, and take care of each other. In addition to this, we have seen an increase in violent incidents involving our brothers and sisters in the State of Florida, and even more, across the entire country. We will be at the funeral for our fallen brother, Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Blane Lane next week. We are thankful we do not have a funeral for those involved in deadly force incidents in Palm Beach County, Charlotte County, or Jacksonville to name just a few in just the last few days.
Please send an email to andrew@teamsouthflorida.org or text us at 702.527.1290 with contact info and an address for anyone you would like us to attempt to follow up with.
Thank you and stay safe,
The TSF LE Family
