FORT MYERS, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden will both be making appearances in southwest Florida Wednesday to speak about the recovery efforts in place following Hurricane Ian.
As search and rescue operations intensify one week after Hurricane Ian roared ashore on the west coast of Florida, the search for supplies continues for those who survived the Category 4 storm.
“We have no water, and we’re here to take a shower,” storm survivor Tom Jacobs said. “We’ve been going to the community center to get water out of the pool so we can flush our toilets.”
Jacobs and his wife were two of several people to line up this week outside a Fort Myers fire station, where officials are providing free showers to those still in need.
“We have these tents here that we would usually use for hazmat calls, and we thought, let’s set these up so people can take a shower,” Fort Myers Fire Department Capt. Paul Dearmond said. “So we have tanker trucks coming in with water -- they hold about 6,000 gallons. This one’s been here for two days, and we have another one in route.”
Aside from clean water, hot meals have also been hard to find, leading to several area churches and non-profits stepping up to help.
“In the last two days, we’ve served over 40,000 meals, because here in southwest Florida, we’re still in a food and water crisis,” Pastor Matt Keller, of Next Level Church, said.
Keller and his team of volunteers have been working non-stop to fill that void, delivering hot meals to local hospitals, shelters and to first responders.