KGVO Gets First Report of Missoula Emergency Workers in Florida

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Public Information Officer Nick Holloway with the Missoula County All-Hazards Incident Management Team called into the KGVO Newsmakers line on Friday just after arriving in Florida to help in the emergency response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian.

“We got down to Sarasota County yesterday afternoon and briefed in their Emergency Operations Center,” began Holloway. “We’re just getting a lay of the land and figuring out where the most damage is and how we can help them out. Today we're headed down to North Port which is in the south part of Sarasota County. It's just north of Punta Gorda, which was very hard hit. North Port was very hard hit as well.”

No Power and Water Still Rising from Hurricane Ian

Holloway described the current conditions in the area that have been placed by Florida state officials.

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“They have utilities out and no electricity,” he said. “Their infrastructure is in pretty rough shape with some bridges out and so we are going to go down there and bolster their emergency operations center and help them find some efficiencies and helping get back online. We are here to help them with public information and also help them with search and rescue operations. It's not over for them because they are seeing rising floodwaters at this time so they're still in the thick of things down there.”

Landline and Cell Phone Coverage still Down in Many Areas

Holloway said part of their responsibilities will be helping to reestablish the communications grid.

“We'll be working with the city of North Port,” he said. “Their emergency management folks will be bolstering their logistics. We're going to come up with systems so that we can order efficiently. As you might guess there are orders for resources coming from all directions and it hasn't yet been put all in one place so that we can officially get resources to where we need them. So that's what we're going to do, we’re going to set that up.”

Flood Donations  can go to the Websites Linked Below

Asked about where funds can be sent by KGVO listeners to help in the flood response, Holloway provided the following contact information.

“I would go look at the city of North Port’s website, or the Sarasota County website,” he said. “The county has a pretty good hurricane page that will explain what's going on and where to help out.”

KGVO listeners and website readers can also give to the American Red Cross and click the link for Hurricane Ian relief.