TULSA, Okla — The cleanup continues after Hurricane Ian ripped through southwest Florida last week.
One of the hardest hit areas is Sanibel Island and those who lived on the island that stayed are now stranded.
Zach Pfaff told 2 News, his cousin Jerrilyn and her husband live on the island with their two dogs.
He said they're not native to Florida but they have been there for years so they decided to ride out the storm, but now they can't leave the island.
Hurricane Ian destroyed the bridge connecting Sanibel Island to the mainland, leaving hundreds of people stranded as the hurricane continued to batter the coast.
Now that Ian has passed, what's left is total destruction and chaos.
Pfaff said his family thought they were prepared to weather the storm.
“They have an at-home generator and everything but a tree actually fell on it during the hurricane so they lost it, and didn’t have any backup power. The water kept coming up further and further towards the door”, Pfaff said.
He said his cousin's house and one of their cars filled with water, but the other car was dry enough to turn on to charge their phones to stay connected to family.
“Water kept coming up further and further towards the door. So one of their cars was underwater and the other one got water damage but they were still able to start it to utilize that for power once the water receded”, Pfaff said.
Pfaff said his parents who live in North Carolina have been in contact and plan to take in the family once they are able to leave the island.
He said helicopters are taking people off the island but his cousin wants to wait for a barge so they can take their car with them.
After several days stranded on the island, Pfaff told 2 News his family was rescued Saturday evening and are now safe on the mainland.
While many are trying to get off the island, the Red Cross is sending volunteers to help.
Saturday afternoon, volunteers from across the country met in Tulsa with the Red Cross emergency response vehicle to head down to Sanibel Island.
One Red Cross Volunteer, Shelly Houser, said “when we get there we’ll be doing feeding, sheltering, disaster assessment or DES”.
DES stands for disaster and emergency services.
Once the volunteers make it to Florida, it's all hands on deck.
Jeff Hoover is another volunteer with Red Cross, he said, “It can be from driving these ERV vehicles here and distributing food and supplies to the people down there. To helping with inventory and supplies with all the logistics that go on in such a massive operation”.
Hoover said the volunteers will be deployed for as long as it takes to help as many people as possible.
“What better way to show compassion and kindness towards your fellow man than go down and help them whenever they’re in such a terrible situation”, Hoover said.
The Red Cross volunteers are expected to make it to Florida by Wednesday.
Trending Stories:
- One teen dead, one injured in shooting outside McLain High School in Tulsa
- DOWNLOAD the 2 News Oklahoma app for alerts
- Tulsa police looking for shooters after killing at apartment complex
- FOLLOW 2 News Oklahoma on Facebook
- MPS and State Superintendent Hofmeister sounding off after McLain shooting
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
