Group formed after Hurricane Ian still functioning, ready if needed
The Greater Pine Island Emergency Task Force wants islanders to know that it is still functioning behind the scenes. Board chair Elsie Stearns said the group is currently operating under the umbrella of the Beacon of Hope and encourages anyone looking for information on the team to visit the Beacon website to keep up with what they’re doing.
“The purpose of the Task Force is to come out of the gates after a storm and be the front line of getting the island up and running and open again,” Stearns said.
She went on to explain that after Hurricane Ian, it occurred, not only to Stearns but other key Pine Island leaders, that although Pine Island is a part of unincorporated Lee County, it is vitally important due to its many functions, such as barges moving supplies through the island.
“When you put a stop to Pine Island, you’re also stopping Useppa, North Captiva, Cayo Costa and all of our barrier islands, since all of their resources come through barging ports on Pine Island. If we don’t have access to get to our barging sites, to take materials to these outer islands, we’re saying no to all of them, too. I started talking to individuals like Glen Green of Dynamic South, my son (Derrick Stearns, Stearns Custom builders), Steve Honc — started having conversations about how we needed a task force — a team of people. We know Honc is gonna pull out with equipment, we know the Honc family brings equipment to Pine Island and stores it in their yard so that after a storm occurs they can come out and push things where they need to go,” Stearns said.
Based on past experience, she said, there are many occurrences folks have learned to take for granted, such as involvement from organizations like Honc, the Fire Department and the Water Association, however, after Hurricane Ian, some of the leaders of Pine Island started having conversations about how best to get organized. After the storm, the Fire Department became the epicenter, she said.
“They (the Fire Department) were keeping their trucks parked at the Methodist Church parking lot because everything was — it was just chaotic,” Stearns said.
The idea, she said, was that those she was hoping might say yes to joining this team would be willing to be a group of people who would ban together and ultimately be responsible for seeing to Pine Island getting up and running again, should islanders ever go through the kind of storm and uncertainty brought by Hurricane Ian. Once Stearns had agreement from the major players, Including the Fire Department, and the Water Company, she went to work putting the Task Force together. The people that she chose to ask were people who are able to respond and communicate well, she said.
“We formed in April and started having meetings. We invited (Lee County Commissioner) Kevin Ruane so we could share our vision with him as far as what we wanted to do,” Stearns said.
It was important to the group that they ask Ruane what they (the Task Force) could do in particular to help Lee County. This opened the door, she said, to county officials granting the group’s ability to ascertain a liaison at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) who will coordinate with this Task Force group on Pine Island.
Some of those currently on the Task Force, she said, are the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, Lee County Parks and Recreation, Useppa Fire Department, LCEC and many others. The whole team can be accessed through the Beacon of Hope website https://beaconofhopepineisland.com/
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email