TThere was no time to waste. As Hurricane Ian hit southwest Florida, Brian Stern, Former Marinemuster crew, boats, tools – even crow bars – for An urgent task will be at hand soon; Rescue hundreds of people potentially trapped by flood waters.
dynamo project She was cruising the coast of southwest Florida save people, Many of them are elderly residents who are out of work when Category 4 storm swept bridge connecting Sanibel Island with mainland Florida.
As local authorities continue to reach people trapped by flood waters, others unwilling to be spectators have begun to work to help official rescuers do their important work.
“It kind of restores your view of humanity. You see people stepping in and they don’t get paid for it. There are people whose homes have been destroyed, but they help them. They still help others,” said Tim Barrett, chief of training for the Sanibel Fire Department.
The storm killed dozens.
On Saturday afternoon, while helping a team of pharmacists get to Sanibel Island to secure a drug store, Stern’s team met a woman they had met the day before.
rescue feedback
Betty Reynolds refused to leave her home because of the storm, and turned down their offer to bring her to the mainland — but returned on Saturday.
“I didn’t think it was bad at all until the water started flowing,” Reynolds said. “I came out four feet from the house. So I lived upstairs.”
She had been living on Sanibel Island for 47 years when Ian hit, and she covered most of the island with a six-foot storm surge.
Reynolds said she’s left in the past because of hurricanes, and nothing has happened to her – so she decided to take a chance on those hurricanes.
After Reynolds was delivered ashore, a text arrived – someone else on the island needed help.
The son of a woman wrote a text message saying that his mother is trapped on the island “She thinks she will die.” Stern and his team have given permission to demolish the store, if necessary, to gain access to it.
The resort community of Sanibel Island is surrounded by palm-lined beaches and hotel resorts—but Ian seems to have wiped out a lot of that.
The only bridge connecting the island to the mainland was destroyed. Officials speculate that it could take months before it is fixed and opened to vehicular traffic for residents.
The lack of roads on the way meant that Stern had to arrive by boat The best option was to pull a sandbar and jump overboard.
In the end, the search for the woman came up empty – he later learned that another team had previously rescued her. But Stern said the effort was not wasted.
“Yeah, yeah, sure. It’s a blessing that people are off the island or out some other way, friends, family, neighbors or whatever. The idea isn’t that people should be saved. That’s the idea. I don’t have a problem working through the mud.”
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