'We will not be able to come': Hurricane Milton forces first responders to hunker down

The high speed winds blowing off Hurricane Milton and whipping into tornadoes are keeping first responders along Florida’s Gulf Coast off the roads and unable to attempt any rescues, authorities said.

“None of us want to sit on our thumbs not being able to do what we want to do,” said Nick Pachota, a veteran first responder and mayor of Venice, Florida. “But unfortunately if one of us gets hurt there’s no one to rescue the rescuer.”

Pachota and other Florida authorities are warning that although people can call 911 for help over the phone, they will effectively be on their own until Milton passes over. They are sharing the message of the limitations of first responders after 911 centers received a number of calls at the height of Hurricane Helene that authorities could not answer.

The calls included people hoping to be rescued as well as others inquiring about family members they had not been able to contact and how their properties were faring in the face of the battering winds and storm surge.

Pachota said the calls from people hoping to be rescued were particularly hard as many tell dispatchers how much they regret defying evacuation orders.

"The power goes out, it gets hot, sewers overflow, they expect us to come out and rescue them and it’s not possible," he said.

First responders in the Sarasota County city had to quit the roads at around 6:30 p.m. after winds topped 45 mph, Pachota told USA TODAY. Officials in Pasco County announced at about 7 p.m. that first responders could no longer respond to calls.

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“This is why we preach the word so much to evacuate,” said Sarah Andeara, a county public information officer. “When the winds get bad and the waters get high, we will not be able to come and make those calls.” 

First responders will check wind speeds every 30 minutes to see whether they dip below Pasco’s 39 mph threshold and they can resume making calls, Andeara said.

Many Pasco residents heeded evacuation calls ahead of Milton, Andreada said. Around 6,000 people had left their homes for hurricane shelters, over 10 times as many as the number in shelters during Hurricane Helene.

Many first responder agencies stand down when the winds reach between 30 and 40 mph. 

Lieutenant Todd Olmer, a spokesperson for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, said that first responders in boats quit making water rescues at those wind speeds during Hurricane Helene but that first responders could still use the county’s custom-built swamp buggy for rescues through up to four feet of floodwater. 

Petty Officer Eric Rodriguez, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson in Florida, warned during Helene that well ahead of that hurricane's landfall the maritime branch was already waiting until after the storm passed to begin making rescues at which time Coast Guard officers flying MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and a C-27 fixed-wing airplane would scour the coast for signs of wreckage and people needing to be rescued. 

Rescuing people even after winds die down can still be complicated, authorities warned.

First responders will have to get around debris, deal with downed trees blocking roads and navigate high floodwaters. 

“Some people just don’t get it. We’re in a society where everyone thinks everything’s at the tip of their fingers,” Pachota said. "Often people don't understand that once the trees and the powerlines go down we need special crews to get to homes and that’s if there’s no floodwaters."

Authorities recommended people call a neighbor first before reaching out to officials for help and to call 311 if it was not an emergency.

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