FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS: Hurricane Ian is 500-Year Event, Lee and Charlotte Counties ‘Off the Grid’

7,500 BREVARD HOSEHOLDS WITHOUT POWER

WATCH: Speaking in a Thursday morning media briefing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that first responders had descended on southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian.

FOX NEWS – Speaking in a Thursday morning media briefing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that first responders had descended on southwest Florida following Hurricane Ian.

Operations are ongoing, with 28 large helicopters between the National Guard and Coast Guard performing rescue missions, and more air assets brought in as the day continues.

DeSantis said his office had also been working with hospitals overnight that have been on generator power and were in the process of evacuating health care facilities to safer locations.

The governor noted that, in addition to the more than 2.5 million power outages reported in the state, more outages were anticipated in central and northeastern Florida.

“Lee and Charlotte are basically off the grid at this point,” he explained, adding that infrastructure would likely have to be rebuilt there and that damage to the counties was “extensive.”

DeSantis said that, after interruptions in communications, 100 portable cell towers were being deployed in southwest Florida.

Furthermore, 100 engineers were on site to do bridge inspections, and he noted that there were reports of structural damages to bridges like the Sanibel Causeway and Pine Island Bascule Bridge.

DeSantis warned that the amount of water that’s been rising and will continue to rise is “basically a 500-year flood event.”

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