Homestead police head to Punta Gorda to help with Hurricane Ian recovery efforts

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Law enforcement agencies in Miami-Dade County are stepping up to help the victims of Hurricane Ian in any way they can, and that includes a team from the Homestead Police Department, which left Friday morning.

The team is going to Punta Gorda, which was ravaged by Ian earlier this week.

The team is taking ATVs and other equipment with them, and is also bringing along two K9s to help with the search and rescue operations.

Law enforcement officials said the damage they have seen so far reminds them of Hurricane Andrew, which led to law enforcement agencies from around the country coming to the Homestead area to assist with recovery efforts.

Now, they want to pay it forward.

“The pictures are really bad,” Detective Eric Rodriguez said. “The city of Homestead as a result of Andrew way back when – we had a lot of extreme damage in this area, so we’re pretty much geared and we know what to expect, and again, the main goal is to go ahead and be able to help out and assist the people that are affected by this tragedy.”

The team is expected to be in the Punta Gorda area for a week, but they say that could change.

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About the Authors
Amanda Batchelor headshot

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

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