“Rising waters are very dangerous,” Governor Ron DeSantis said. “These guys have sprung into action. So, to all the folks who have responded locally, thank you for what you have done.”
“We had the entire department activated,” said Plant City Fire Rescue, Dustin Hill. “Some guys started Tuesday and didn’t get home until Thursday night. The entire department was there 12 hours before the storm start, and worked another 24 hours. When we started our operations. We had a ton of 911 calls waiting in the queue. When the wind started to get too high we couldn’t drive our vehicles anymore, so we made a decision that a couple of pickup trucks were low enough that we could use them and the armored police vehicle, BearCat.” The team of four vehicles went out first and started water rescues. In two hours they got 50 people out of their homes. City Furniture opened its doors to serve residents as a shelter, so the team took the rescued there.
The whole first floor of the Holiday Inn on Park Road flooded. Hotel guests were standing in water and had to be helped off the property. “We couldn’t get the truck in there, so we got in the BearCat and the Sherp from Hillsborough County,” Hill said. Fire Rescue had units scattered all over the city working separate major events. Multiple city blocks were flooded. “We worked those city blocks house-to-house and street-to-street, depending on what group you were in, and where you were capable of getting. But the entire department was knee- to chest-deep in water for the majority of the night.” After the sun came up, the rescue teams needed more resources, so they used a front-end loader. They were able to use that to move through deep water to get disabled people and others out of the water. “You hear about the Fire Department, but it was between us and the police department. We joined as one, and we worked as one doing all of it. It was an extremely amazing thing to see. No matter what badge you wear, or what color your uniform, we all said, ‘Alright, this is what we do.’ We developed a plan, and we executed flawlessly for 56 hours.”
Some police officers carried children out of flooded neighborhoods on their shoulders through chest high water. One police officer found a resident in medical distress and used an Ambu bag to help the person breathe, then delivered the individual to the hospital.
“I am grateful to be here and to work with such courageous men and women,” said Deputy Chief Joseph Centanni. “They are tired. They miss their families. They were uncertain about a lot of things that were going on in their own homes. It makes me very proud that they put all of that aside, and they focused on the mission of recovery and putting the city back together. I couldn’t be more proud of them in regards to the water rescues. We had close to 100 water rescues. And they did it in extremely, extremely dangerous conditions. Winds were between 45 and 50 miles per hour, and at times the water was up to their chests. But they were helping people get out of their homes. They are fatigued, but their resiliency, their tenacity, and drive to get the mission done has risen to the top. None of that surprises me, and I couldn’t be more proud.
Justin Dunkin, owner of Wet & Salty Adventures, lives on N. Wilder Road. He spent his post-Milton Thursday volunteering to help rescue people stranded by the flooding. He took the time to comment after pulling people out of a neighborhood flooded by the overflowing East Canal. “So, the hurricane came, obviously,” he said. “I am 41. I have been in Plant City my whole life, so I have seen a lot of storms here. I have never seen this much water, though. I have seen wind a little worse than this, but not this much water. I own an outdoor company. Driving an airboat is what I do for a living. I do airboat tours mainly. So, I have an airboat that will hold four passengers plus myself. I’ve got all the emergency gear on here, and just figured I would come out and help right here. So, I started about 4:00 a.m. doing search and rescue, going in finding people, and bringing them out to high ground to their loved ones so they could get them to a safe place.”
At the request of the State of Florida, South Florida Baptist Hospital (SFBH) opened its legacy facility on Alexander Street to use as a shelter to house health care patients displaced by the storm. SFBH also assisted Hillsborough County by housing patients with special medical needs at its new location on N. Park Road.
“I know that the entire City, the City administration, and of course, the police department and the fire personnel are working very, very hard to get things back together,” Centanni commented. “We are going to continue to work as hard as we can to get the community back to normal.”