SAN DIEGO — A group of San Diegans are volunteering their time to travel to Florida Sunday to help animals devastated and lost due to the destruction of Hurricane Ian.
Four people from San Diego deployed to Florida Friday morning to assist with water rescues and the search for animals in distress.
"As you can see, [we're] kind of going house to house right now, street to street checking to see if anybody needs any pet supplies, dog food, cat food," said Lieutenant Clint Ganus with the San Diego Humane Society Search and Rescue Team. He spoke with CBS 8 from Sarasota, Florida via phone.
Video revealed crippling damage left behind by Hurricane Ian as Lieutenant Clint Ganus drove through surging waters that separated small and large animals from their families.
However, whipping wind and destructive flooding did not stop him and three other San Diegans from traveling to Florida to bring extra help for pets and needy animals.
"So we're just kind of going to be doing search and rescues for animals that are loose in the community," said Ganus.
Summer Piper of the San Diego Humane Society said locals barely have food or even shelter for their families, let alone their pets.
"We asked anyone, went door to door, to community members to see if they saw anything, whether they have animals or needs. There were a lot of requests for dog food," said Piper.
For the lost animals unable to evacuate with their owners, SDHS fears they are trapped or trying to survive by taking shelter on top of demolished ceilings that once sheltered the home of their own family.
"Today, we went on our first field assessment missions, so we assessed a few neighborhoods down at Fort Myers Beach, and then a little inland, there was a lake area that had flooded pretty well," said Piper.
While San Diego crews prepared to help—other rescue crews in Florida helped locals and their pets by rescuing them from deep waters or inside their damaged homes.
Some have even needed to be airlifted with their pets to escape the dangerous flooding.
As for Zoo animals, Floridian Zoo keepers said they are always prepared for environmental disasters and have bunkered animals safely in barns.
Rescue crews planned additional search efforts around Lee County and are prepared for the worst.