PUNTA GORDA — With limited resources, the Punta Gorda police and fire department leaders say they’re grateful residents heeded Hurricane Milton evacuation orders — because they didn’t before Hurricane Helene.
Punta Gorda Police Chief Pam Smith recently told the City Council there were 121 rescues with 30 animals helped by first responders after Hurricane Helene. Charlotte County Transit sent buses to take rescued people to shelters.
“It was an amazing teamwork effort,” Smith said. “This is the first time we did that.”
She said there was a lot of work with Charlotte County Emergency Management.
In Hurricane Milton, officials ordered evacuations for zones A, B and C.
Smith said residents listened.
“I want to shout out to our residents because they actually listened,” Smith said. “We only had two water rescues. We were assisted by the North Port Police Department’s BearCat natural disaster water rescue vehicle. Thank goodness for them.”
Smith said a man and then a woman with three children were rescued in the floodwaters from Hurricane Milton.