(NewsNation) — Several volunteer rescue efforts were launched Thursday across Florida, where residents are still reeling from the devastating damage of Hurricane Milton.
Private recovery teams were out assessing damage and giving aid to residents.
Many homes have been devastated, and recovery will likely take years, Jose Garcia, president of Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay, which helps with disaster relief, told NewsNation.
Garcia said his group has seen roofs ripped off, fences down and windows fallen out in just an initial assessment.
The group will have to wait a few more days to get in and start repairs, but the process will be long, he said.
“We’re still working very hard in getting Fort Myers back to normal. This is going to be another two or three years of commitment to make sure that everybody gets back to their home and lives in a safe and healthier home,” he said.
“We’re going to need a lot of supplies and obviously financial support, which I have to say that the state always has been very good in helping us get there,” he said.
Garcia said residents were hit with a double punch with two back-to-back disasters.
Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast coast less than two weeks ago.
Another rescue effort team said the biggest obstacle they are seeing is downed power lines, which can be dangerous in a number of ways.
“It’s very dangerous outside. If you’re in an area that was affected and you still have standing water, there are things in the water that you can’t see. People step on those things and break their ankles, trip and fall on the downed power lines, some of those lines are hot, and people get zapped,” Bryan Stern, founder of Grey Bull Rescue Foundation, which assists governments with rescues, told NewsNation.
Milton plowed into Florida as a Category 3 storm just as the state took a breath after Hurricane Helene, pounding cities with winds of over 100 mph after producing a barrage of tornadoes Wednesday.
But Stern said this time, residents seemed to have followed government warnings better by evacuating.
Despite the devastation, he said, “Generally speaking, Mother Nature was pretty nice this time,” and the damage could have been much worse, he said, calling the storm “more of a wind event.”