On Saturday night a plane carrying 21 Americans fleeing Haiti arrived in Orlando, Florida, the latest in a series of US-chartered flights from the Caribbean nation, which has come down into chaos amid gang violence and political disturbances.
On Sunday, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management announced the plane’s arrival, considering that, to date, a total of 35 Americans have been rescued by state-coordinated emergency flights.
‘Those who landed in Orlando had access to resources, such as meals and water, lodging, transportation, basic health and medical screenings, phones and ID replacement services, according to the agency.
Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said in a news release, ‘The division is working around the clock through every available avenue to get our residents home’.
‘Governor (Ron) DeSantis directed us to take every challenge in our path and not stop until the mission is complete’, added Kevin Guthrie.
On March 15, DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in Florida after the agency received several requests from Floridians who were trapped in Haiti.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said, ‘Hundreds of US citizens remain in Haiti and over 1,000 had filled out crisis intake forms as of March 19’.
Last week, the first Florida-organized flight brought 14 people from Haiti to Orlando Sanford International Airport. ‘Roughly 360 Floridians remain in Haiti’, Guthrie had said on Wednesday.
Comments