(WSVN) - Portions of West Coast Florida were reduced to rubble by Hurricane Ian, and as residents try to figure out what they’ll do next, search-and-rescue operations are underway.
Rescues by the U.S. Coast Guard continued, Friday.
New images showed heroic rescues and widespread devastation as people grappled with the aftermath and rescuers worked to save residents trapped in their homes.
“We have rescued upwards of 200 people so far, talked to the fire chief yesterday. He feels pretty comfortable that we’ve gotten everybody,” a first responder said.
Emergency crews continued to reach stranded residents with more than 700 people already rescued.
“Rescue personnel have gone to more than 3,000 homes in the hardest hit areas, going door to door to check on the occupants of those residences,” a first responder said. “There are over a thousand dedicated rescue personnel who are going up and down the coastline.”
A video showed the Miami-based U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin Air Crew touching down in Sanibel on Thursday to rescue people stranded on the island; one man guided the crew to his home.
“Stay right there,” said a rescue member.
Residents climbed into a basket and were hoisted onto the coast guard helicopter.
“You’ll be all right. Woohoo, yeah,” a first responder said.
One woman hung on tight to a crate that held her pet cats after her husband passed them through the window of their flooded home.
Both of them waded through their flooded neighborhood to get to the basket.
A man held his dog as the aircre rescued him and his grandmother.
The Coast Guard made dozens of similar mission, Thursday.
“We had 16 aircraft up in the air throughout the day and overnight. We were able to rescue 95 people,” said Brendan McPherson, U.S. Coast Guard commander.
Another video showed a man being pulled from under a pile of debris on Fort Myers Beach.
In the video, the man mumbled, “Where are you at? You’re in Fort Myers,” confused as he visibly shook. Rescue crews used what they could to keep him warm.
A look from above showed the devastation on Fort Myers Beach.
“All that debris just littered everywhere,” said one person. “What used to be the Fort Myers Pier.”
The new video showed a closer view from the north end that exhibited an even closer look at the pier; only the concrete foundation was left behind.
More first responders bypassed dangerous conditions in their search for survivors as the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Task Force arrived at ground zero, Thursday.
The task force shared videos of the group in Sanibel and Captiva islands.
Paramedics, structural engineers, canines and hazmat crews landed in rubble similar to a war zone of battered buildings.
The crews helped residents board a military-style chopper to get them to safety.
Devastated areas were only accessible by air due to the catastrophic damage to roads and the Sanibel Causeway.
Another video showed rescue crews as they passed through massive mangled pieces of debris on the ground and homes ripped apart.
MDFR and the National Guard are working closely to save as many people as they can.
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