Florida-based disaster response teams continue to assist in the international response and recovery efforts of last week’s 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. Today is day 11 of emergency operations both on the island nation and the Sunshine State.
Response efforts by the state of Florida to date include:
* On Friday, January 15, Governor Charlie Crist issued an Executive Order (#10-06) in response to the earthquake. The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) remains operational at a Level 2 or partial activation.
* To date, six U.S. urban search and rescue teams, including two South Florida teams with personnel from Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami, have rescued a total of 47 people from collapsed buildings in Port-au-Prince. They are scheduled to return to Florida on Sunday, January 24.
* The State Emergency Response Team has established a Flight Following Cell at the State EOC to track incoming flights from Haiti to Florida. To date 388 flights with 11,488 passengers have returned to Florida airports.
* Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has provided services to 5,043 individuals coming from Haiti to the United States since January 13.
* Volunteer Florida is currently coordinating and assisting 37 community and faith-based organizations that are on the ground or providing services in support of the survivors in Haiti. For a complete list of relief agencies working in Haiti that are taking donations, please visit www.volunteerflorida.org.
* The Florida Department of Heath reports that 261 persons have been received at Florida hospitals, 208 have been received in South Florida and 53 have been received in Orlando.
* The Florida National Guard has sent 11 Haitian-Creole speaking guardsmen to serve as interpreters at Orlando-Sanford Airport. 11 interpreters, 2 supervisors.
