Appearing on CBS Mornings earlier today, Rear Adm. Brendan McPherson, Commander of the Coast Guard’s 7th District, shared an update on the status of the service’s response to Hurricane Ian in Florida.

“It was a busy day for the Coast Guard yesterday, we had 16 aircraft in the air conducting rescues and we rescued 95 people, and a few more overnight, shared Rear Adm. McPherson. “Our crews will be out there first thing this morning looking for more people who are in distress.”

“This is an all-hands-on deck effort, working with local and state first responders and fire departments, FEMA’s urban search and rescue teams, and the Florida National Guard.”

News anchors Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil asked how Coast Guard members who live in the storm’s impact zone were responding to the devastation.

“We have great support systems for our people. The Coast Guard Foundation is an organization that provides support for our Coast Guard members. It’s a great non-profit organization. We have chaplains, critical incident stress managers, and we exercise all those resources to make sure we’re taking care of our own people and our families.”

“We’re part of this community, side by side with our neighbors, and we will get through this and we will recover.”

Noted co-host Tony Dokoupil, “Amid all that destruction, it’s a beautiful thing to see a Coast Guard helicopter in the air coming towards you.”

The Coast Guard Foundation’s emergency disaster relief program is already responding to requests for support from Coast Guard members impacted by both Hurricane Fiona that struck Puerto Rico last week, and Hurricane Fiona in Florida. We expect additional grant requests to come from Coast Guard families who suffer loss from this storm in the coming weeks, as people return home and begin the arduous clean-up process.

“We are here now, and we will continue to be there in the future, to lend a helping hand to Coast Guard members and families,” said Susan Ludwig, Coast Guard Foundation President. “Our emergency support program is made possible by the generosity of our Coast Guard Foundation community who stands side-by-side with us in being there for Coast Guard members and families where and when they need us most.”

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kruz Sanders, Petty Officer 3rd Class Gabriel Wisdom.