A Resolution By The Board Of County Commissioners Of Pasco County, Florida, Recognizing The Pasco Sheriff’s Office Deployable Emergency Response Team For Their Search And Rescue Efforts In Lee County, Florida, In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Ian

45:08And I see we have Sheriff Nacko in the audience, so we're gonna move right to our S five. Come on up, Sheriff.

45:14Right.

45:20And resolution. All right.

45:21Sheriff Knuckle, I'll go ahead and read the resolution first. Okay. Resolution number 23-026, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, recognizing the Pasco Sheriff's Office Deployable Emergency Response Team for their search and rescue efforts in Lee County, Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Raz, on September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in our state. The event caused severe destruction and devastation throughout Florida. ANRAS Hurricane Ian made

45:51landfall as a Category four hurricane and was the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since nineteen thirty five Labor Day hurricane. NRAS, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and many neighboring emergency responder agencies, including the PASCO Sheriff's Office Deployable Emergency Response Team, aided the residents of Lee County. NRAS, the Pasco Sheriff's Office Deployable Emergency Response Team, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Task Force members aided the communities that were most devastated by Hurricane Ian.

46:22NRAS and the immediate The Pasco Sheriff's Office Deployable Emergency Response Team deployed urban search and rescue assets to assist in finding and recovering survivors. They utilized canines and drones to find and assist individuals who were trapped under debris and damaged structures.

46:48As Sheriff Chris Knocko focused on aiding our neighbors in the South with minimal impact to patrol operations in Pasco County. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby recognizes the Pasco Sheriff's Office Deployable Emergency Response Team for their hard work and dedication to rescue efforts in Lee County. Dunan resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting the sixth day of December 2024. Yeah.

47:12Thank you very much. Motion to approval. Baruch?

47:18Second.

47:19All in favor say aye.

47:20Aye.

47:20Aye. And Sheriff, um I tell you we we're gonna have a series of resolutions all about the the storm or whatever, but I want to say that uh My Rotary District, 6950 of which I remember, New Paritie Rotary together. Um, They told me about how they were gonna load up four truckloads of food, ship it down and we went out there on a Sunday at uh Moss Nissan and kinda went through and loaded the whole thing up and then they told me we're gonna take a trip down to go see it. And then as we went down, um was Troy Stevenson, a few other guys, and we went through and we Drove down to

47:50a couple of different spots, dropped off some trucks, and then they said Do you want to go see what your Sheriff's unit's doing uh down in uh Lee County, down Fort right in Fort Myers, the heart of it all? I says I'd love to go down there. So we went down there and uh I get to meet your upper staff, uh, get to meet you with Lee County uh uh sheriff, I believe it's the appointee that was down there. They gave me a tour of the the c the college that you guys were at, staying in the some had pretty decent accommodations in the I think the locker rooms and the others were like under bleachers.

48:21Um Meanwhile the whole wall of the floors are all protected, whatever I'm thinking we can do better than this. So I talked with the crew, talked with them, and I asked them to put a whole series of Recommendations, what we can do better, because I guess under Sheriff White White has started, you've carried this thing on that these guys have been elevated to top the being the first out there to to help anyone in this in this whole state, which is phenomenal for the state of Florida. So I appreciate you doing all that. And I want to like reach up between what we can do here at the county But as

48:51well as maybe if I need to get with Kevin Guthrie, obviously from here before, uh I'm sure our Governor DeSantis would help out too, but we can put a better plan together so that we get great people like your team that was out there. that would give you the support that you'd have to go out there and take care of people on such a Dire circumstances.

49:07No, I appreciate it, Chairman. Actually we wrote that letter. We have a letter sent to you. Uh so appreciate that recommendation. Um if I can real quick I want to go back because it's always exciting coming to the board meeting because you never know what you're gonna hear. And so um just some points earlier, which that citizen came up here, I don't think she's aware that we do have a citizen advisory council. So she's probably not aware of that. Uh she's probably not aware that we have reduced crime over the years and that we've been winning all these lawsuits. So and that Newport Ritchie is a separate jurisdiction that's a city within the you know the county, so you can have a Newport Ritchie address, but it's not in there, but Unfortunately,

49:38don't let facts get in the way sometimes, but those are the facts. Um the other one too is Mr. Chair, I appreciate the knowledge. Um and what you're saying. It was interesting. We do want to be, you know, we had to get out there to help our neighbors because, you know, as everybody knows, that storm was focused here first. So, you know, we got the call from Governor DeSantis, you know, Senator Rick Scott, everybody saying, What do you need? Other sheriffs are calling in saying, hey, as soon as that hits uh makes landfall, we're there. And then within a matter of hours, you know, it shifted. And so that's what we want to be that ability to go respond. And and the one thing is, you know,

50:08I I want to thank our deputies who went down there, the women and men down there, but the for their families who were here. You know, those families that are here, you know, we have to think about them and um and our family support network supporting them. The other one is for the volunteers, like I said, the rotaries, the businesses, everybody who went down there to support our members. That is so heartwarming. That to them means so much. And the one thing that we're doing here, and I'm gonna applaud the fire rescue along with us, they're special operations. If you ever get a chance. We can all set something up, but to come out there and see what we're doing at first with those rubber piles, those level one female rubber piles. The fire rescue

50:38team goes out there, our teams go out there and we're working together. And communications, you know, you can't leave them out of the mix. They're so critical. But the way public safety has been working better and better together each day, to come out there and see what happens, because God forbid, when that day comes to Pasco County, our teams are training and we're getting well advanced, and we're gonna be ready for that worst case scenario. But the thing is, what we always remember is just the way we have to support other people, they're gonna come and support us. So, and I appreciate that because it starts with the County Commission supporting us, recognizing that. And when you go down there, you saw it, had that storm hit

51:08us, everything west of 19 would have been rocked. Um, absolutely. That when you see sand piled up above your head and you see the water that and it wasn't the wind as much, it was the amount of water that comes. in there. I have to say water differently than water. But the amount of water that came in, it was unbelievable how much it rocked. And so that's what's saying, God forbid that day comes, but I will say working with Fire Rescue, the Sheriff's Office and Communications, we have a good plan and a good team. So thank you for that.

51:35Well thank you for representing us well.

51:41That'll be coming up in j right after if you want to stay you can stay, but I know you get your team back there as well. When we all go down, we'll take a picture together.

51:47All right. Thanks.

52:24All right, folks, right here. One, two, three, three.

52:33Thank you, thank you.

52:33Thank you.

52:35More good stories

52:36coming.

52:37So

52:47Half half reading.

52:58We can