The Unheard Story of Hurricane Ian
November 7, 2022
On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian struck the Fort Myers, Florida area as a Category 4 Hurricane. The devastation that followed has been shown in pictures and written about in text over the last few months. One story that is being told is what was seen by Mark Turner and Overwatch Foundation as they rolled into town hours after landfall. While not untold, the first hand account delivered on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast could very well go unheard by the masses. This is one small attempt to keep that from happening.
When hurricane season kicks into gear, Mark Turner tracks the storms from their adolescence. As the storm approaches land, the team at Overwatch Foundation prepares to react quickly. Their bread and butter is in the day 0 to day 4 or 5 time frame. The team members excel in quick action response, when they can make a dynamic impact before FEMA and Red Cross can get fully setup and operational. By the time Hurricane Ian had made it to the east side of Florida, Turner and his team of heroes were on their way to the sunshine state.
After an all night drive from Atlanta to Jacksonville, Turner quickly called an audible to his original plans when he found out that a deployed marine's aunt had lost contact with her family after reporting flood waters coming into her house. Now split into two groups, a few guys continued the plan to bring water and food to those in need, working out of Jacksonville, while other team members worked the missing aunt angle in the Fort Myers area. By the time the second group reached the aunt, the water inside the house had receded a bit, and the aunt was shaken up, but okay. The group spent the day in that area, helping the 74 year old's neighbors that saw waves crashing through their living rooms just hours before.
"We saw Fort Myers was just decimated, it was the epicenter ... this is where we're going to stay"
- Mark Turner (Founder of Overwatch Foundation)
Once the Overwatch crew reached that 4-5 day mark, it became a bit tougher for the group to help where it was most needed. Red tape, government bureaucracy, and groups that had contracts to help became their foe. In a time when help should become easier to find, providing help became more difficult to accomplish. This fully volunteer group of American heroes did not quit. With a few helpful tips from a few locals and a few "rules" bent, they found a way to help the residents. I'm sure many of the stories will never be told, but what can be understood is that people of Overwatch Foundation found their way to an island of Americans that needed help and simply did everything they could to help the citizens. Thank God for this group of heroes that were able to figure out a way to overcome those obstacles.
Less than a year ago, Overwatch Foundation was simply an idea. The group continues to learn and grow with each disaster they work and are dedicated to making operations more efficient. They are learning the rules of such events and how best to work with them or around them if the need arises. What if the world was filled with more of this common sense mindset.
Be sure to check out the rest of Mark Turner's story as he and Sean Ryan touch on other events the crew fought through in Post-Hurricane Fort Myers on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast. They talk about looting, questions about the actual death toll, and an overall breakdown of society as the group were witnesses to some of the worst of humanity, while being examples of some of the best.
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