'All hands on deck': Gov. DeSantis outlines help for Pensacola after Hurricane Sally

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is pouring hundreds of thousands of resources into Northwest Florida following Hurricane Sally including gasoline, generators, ambulance crews, food and drinking water.

DeSantis, along with other local, state and federal officials, surveyed the storm damage by air Thursday afternoon. He said while there were obvious signs of flood damage and standing water in some of the harder hit areas like Perdido Key, a lot of the impact wouldn’t be known until officials can get boots on the ground.

For right now,  “We have all hands on deck,” DeSantis said. “We want to make sure to continue to keep people safe. (Conduct) rescues if needed. Get that power back on. And then, of course, we're gonna look at the damage and people that may have lost homes. We want to get them to a safe place.”

Power still out for most; generators, pumps ambulances on the way

The governor said 200 generators are being deployed to the area to power stop lights and buildings. One hundred pumps are also being sent to help clear out areas that are still flooding.

In addition, 43 ambulances are en route to help with 911 calls, and feeding stations will soon be up and running across the region. Nearly one million bottles of water and 179,000 meals are heading this way for distribution.

While vast swaths of the area are still without power, electricity has been restored to all local hospitals and long-term care facilities except for an assisted-living facility in Santa Rosa County. Its 85 residents were transferred to a sister facility.

Addressing how COVID-19 had impacted the transfer, DeSantis said, “they have a lot of resources now at their disposal. The federal government's provided over $100 million to different types of elder care facilities and so, (COVID-19) does make it more challenging, but I think this is something that they've been dealing with for a long time. I think they have the tools that they need to be able to handle it safely.“ 

Bridges and transportation

The big question on everyone's mind, however, was what will happen with Pensacola Bay Bridge. A Skanska crane aboard one barge crashed into the Pensacola Bay Bridge on Wednesday, destroying a section of the bridge’s surface and forcing the bridge to remain closed until it can be inspected and repaired.

In response to media questions, DeSantis stopped short of saying Skanska has been “negligent” in allowing multiple construction barges to break free from their docks during the hurricane. Reports indicates the vessels have washed up from downtown Pensacola to Santa Rosa County.

DeSantis said his understanding was that Skanska had opted not to move the equipment out of the area because of forecasts indicating Sally wouldn’t have a major impact in the Florida Panhandle. The governor said the Department of Emergency Management saw the same forecasts, but still made sure it had people in place for a worst-case scenario.

In regards to securing the barges, he said, “I'd much rather have more precautions taken and then not have to use up resources (after the fact). But I think in this situation, there was probably a belief that it wasn't necessary. Whether that was done appropriately or not, I think people look at it, but clearly it's done a lot of damage. I think if you live in some of those areas, to not have access to that bridge can make it very difficult for people to get around.”

DeSantis said to aid in reducing transportation woes, the state was receiving some gasoline from Louisiana to help bolster the area's supply.

He noted, however, “I think it's more of a power generation issue. When you get the power on, then I think that a lot of those gas stations do have fuel and people will be able to pump it. But if you don't have the power to pump it, then having all that gas in your tank at the gas station, It's not doing the motorists any good.”