Florida began moving forward Wednesday with flights to evacuate people from strife-torn Haiti.
The first of those planes landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport, according to the state's Division of Emergency Management.
Earlier in the day, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said the flight with 14 people, including children, had departed the troubled Caribbean nation.
“There's people that are in parts of Haiti that are dangerous,” DeSantis said at airport. “We have personnel on the ground that are helping them get where they need to be.”
Thanks to the leadership of @GovRonDeSantis, the first 14 Floridians have safely returned to their families tonight from Haiti. The state will continue to do whatever it takes to get our citizens home. pic.twitter.com/8bRnQJ3C6B
— FL Division of Emergency Management (@FLSERT) March 21, 2024
The Division of Emergency Management last week launched an online portal for Floridians and Americans looking to get out of Haiti amid the nation’s escalating instability.
Guthrie said about 500 Americans and 360 Floridians had contacted the state about evacuating.
Since Saturday, the U.S. government has arranged charter flights from Haiti to the U.S. for people with valid passports.
DeSantis said that unlike the federal charter flights, Florida is covering people’s costs.
Guthrie said the state is also working to get people from where they have been staying to an undisclosed airfield in Haiti.
The flights come as the state has increased deployments of law-enforcement officers, National Guard members and State Guard members to South Florida in anticipation of a surge in migrants from Haiti.
