Florida officials want to hear from people ‘trapped in Haiti’

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 1/4/23-Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management speaks during the Senate Select Committee on Resiliency, Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

As the situation devolves in Haiti, the Division of Emergency Management is taking action, launching an assistance portal to get insight from Floridians and other Americans trapped in the Caribbean country amid yet another round of domestic unrest.

“We will do everything possible to help Floridians and Americans who are in need of help in Haiti,” said Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie. “I encourage those with needs to visit the portal today.”

The portal consists of a fill-in-the-blank form that requests the name, the exact location, the gender, birthdate, cellphone number, email, information about Florida residency and the trapped person’s passport number, issue date and expiration date.

“Gang violence and rapidly escalating instability has caused severe political unrest in Haiti, putting Americans in the country at risk. Floridians in Haiti or their family members can fill out the questionnaire on the portal to let the state know of immediate needs,” the Governor’s Office notes.

Additionally, the state wants to know if people are traveling with animals or as part of a group in need of help, as well as contact information for someone stateside, and the desired arrival location of the travelers who might need help.

The state has already launched Operation Vigilant Sentry, designed to keep Haitian refugees from making landfall and finding refuge in Florida, as part of its response.

More than half of those deployed this week are from the State Guard, which saw its forces doubled recently given the graduation of a training class.

In addition to that 133-member contingent, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will send 39 additional officers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will deploy 23 additional officers with eight additional seacraft, the Florida National Guard will engage 48 additional Guardsmen with four additional helicopters, and the Florida Highway Patrol will allocate 30 additional officers with an additional aircraft and drones for surveillance.

While it’s unclear at this moment whether the state will rescue people from the island nation, there is recent precedent for a foreign mission, as the state worked with private contractors to bring Americans back from Israel after the Hamas attacks last year.

On the presidential campaign trail, DeSantis defended bringing non-Floridians back on Florida taxpayers’ dime, saying we’re all Americans.