Floridians should be proud of our remarkable response to Hurricane Ian
Teetering on the verge of a Category 5 bulldozing ashore in a densely populated area, Hurricane Ian was just about as bad a storm as Florida can get. The heartbreaking damage at the arrival points in Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota and Collier counties show it, along with the continuing path of destruction throughout the center and east coast of the state.
The devastating storm knocked out power to 2.6 million people, destroyed homes and businesses, took down bridges and reshaped the coastline. It is estimated to have cost more than $70 billion. It is a near-miracle that the human tragedy of lost lives was kept to 119.
We often see the best and the worst in people during moments of tragedy. Amid the devastation of Ian, we saw the best in people. The level of personal sacrifice – from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office to local governments, from power restoration teams to churches, from nonprofits to individuals – is a testament to all Floridians.
It has been awe-inspiring to witness all of this firsthand.
The governor set the government tone: he effectively moved to the Fort Myers area during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian with his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, at his side or out on her own. The governor was an on-the-ground CEO coordinating the state response, touring and talking to Floridians and setting aside politics to work with everyone, including President Joe Biden.
Floridians came first.
But the story of the response to Hurricane Ian also has many other admirable elements.
There was a well-oiled machine of 40,000 pre-positioned power workers who came in right behind the storm, even as it continued to rage across the state. We’ve been through this before in Florida, so the loose consortium of power companies throughout the Southeast and beyond were ready to jump in and help right away. These utility workers put in 16-hour days, and some slept in their trucks. Certainly, their amazing sense of selflessness did not go unnoticed or unappreciated: on more than one occasion, residents could be seen buying lunches for the workers to show their gratitude.
Fortunately, Florida had already embarked on a 15-year path to hardening our electric grid against powerful daily summer storms and, of course, tropical storms. In fact, Florida Power & Light and other utilities in the state have long been:
Swapping out older wooden poles for concrete and steel versions that can withstand just about anything.
Burying power lines underground whenever and wherever that made sense.
Working to constantly trim trees along power line routes.
All of these efforts have paid off: Twenty years ago, a storm like Ian would have disrupted the power grid for weeks. But most of the 2.6 million who lost power had it restored within days. It's now clear that hardening power lines is money well spent, because the difference in the damage between hardened areas and non-hardened areas was dramatic.
We should also applaud the engineering marvels pulled off by the Army Corps of Engineers: The Corps did a monumental job rebuilding the Pine Island Bridge in three days and the Sanibel Bridge, which had multiple breaks, in just two weeks.
But what really touched me was how regular Floridians, many of whom had suffered damage and loss themselves, quickly jumped to the aid of those in greater need. Hundreds of churches passed out water and food, collected donations from their congregations and offered immediate relief.
Meanwhile, other churches put together debris-clearing teams to clear roads and offer house to house assistance in devastated neighborhoods. No one keeps track of the numbers, but these church clean-up team members, many of whom used their own tools, trucks and trailers, provided a great public service all across Florida.
Nonprofits such as the Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, the veteran-led Team Rubicon, the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, Feeding Florida, Community Foundations throughout the state and so many others jumped into the breach with food, clothing, supplies and more – and with thousands of volunteers to make it all happen
And finally, we should honor the countless neighbors who turned out to give food, tools and support. Hurricanes don’t impact everyone evenly; people within the same neighborhood can sustain dramatically different levels of damage. But all of the angst in our nation faded as neighbors pulled together to assist each other until more help could arrive.
There is still plenty of work to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, and two things that immediately come to mind are making strides in reforming insurance and hardening more of our power lines.
But make no mistake about it: I couldn’t be prouder to be a Floridian than I am today.
State Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota represents District 23, and previously represented a section of Charlotte County
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Response to Hurricane Ian should make all Floridians proud
