Emergency Fuel for Disaster Survivors

Since our last report, Fuel Relief Fund has wrapped up our work in Ukraine and responded to a sudden-onset disaster here at home, when Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm in late September.

Ian was the fifth-strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the U.S., with maximum sustained winds reaching 150 miles per hour. Conditions suggested that fuel would be a critical humanitarian need in the aftermath of the storm: the mandated evacuation of 2.5 million people put a strain on local fuel supply, and the storm left more than 1 million Florida residents without power.

Our first team member arrived on the scene in Lee County, FL within 48 hours of landfall. The FRF team established a fuel distribution line for first responders at our base of operations in Iona, FL. We provided fuel to hundreds of first responders, including fire departments and search and rescue teams, within the first 48 hours of the deployment. Volunteers then opened the line to the public, filling gas cans for hundreds of area residents – impacting an estimated 1,500 people in our first six hours.

With the assistance of the National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard, FRF volunteers also transported approximately 5,000 gallons of fuel by ferry to Pine Island. This fuel was distributed to first responders and local residents as well as the island’s water treatment facility, which serves 3,500 households - ensuring that nearly 10,000 people had access to clean water in the aftermath of the hurricane. 

Meanwhile, a third team of FRF volunteers visited badly affected neighborhoods on the coast to bring fuel directly to those most impacted by the disaster. 

After one week in the field, more than 100,000 people were still without power in Lee County and the surrounding areas. Temperatures were in the 80s, posing health risks to those without access to air conditioning, refrigeration, and clean drinking water. The FRF team remained in the field, distributing fuel to local residents in order to keep home generators up and running, until power had been restored.

Over the course of the deployment, our team distributed over 30,000 gallons of fuel in Lee County, Florida – benefitting at least 25,000 people over the course of the deployment. We provided fuel to over 800 first responders, from fire departments to nurses, as well as national NGOs and operational partners assisting with the emergency response.