Virginia Borek, of Williamsport, went to Fort Myers, Florida, with the American Red Cross. She’s delivering hot meals, made at one of the Red Cross’ mobile kitchens, to affected families.

She can drive up to 100 miles from the mobile kitchen to deliver the meals. The commute is further complicated by road closures and by detailed efforts to ensure the deliveries do not impede other, more immediate rescue efforts.

“It takes a long time to get anywhere,” she said. “It can be a 12-hour day.”

Borek said a lot of the damage she’s seeing is from trees blown down by the hurricane’s winds, flooding and “boats piled on top of boats.”

“There’s a lot of houses that are no longer livable,” Borek said.

Borek is no stranger to Red Cross assistance efforts — she’s “been doing this off and on for 18 years.” This is the third time in 2022 she has traveled to a disaster site.

In the past, she has delivered other supplies to survivors like rakes, shovels and blankets and assessed damage so the Red Cross can determine who needs what. Borek said the Red Cross performs a lot of jobs and that volunteers receive specialized training first.

“Our immediate focus is to get people through the initial shock of it,” Borek said. “They’re just grateful to be given a break and a hot meal.”

PPL sent 30 contractors, mostly tree trimming crews, to southern Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s destruction and in need of restoring power to Floridians.

The crews were sent from PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania, said Tracey Witter, regional affairs director for PPL Electric Utilities.

PPL also has offered to send additional resources if needed, she said.

Additionally, PPL Corp. has sent resources from Louisville Gas and Electric, and Kentucky Utilities, sister utilities, to the area, she said.

FPL.com (Florida Power and Light) has provided computer users with a map that enables individuals to click on a specific city or location in southwest Florida to determine the number of outages.

However, Bill Silagy, of FPL said that only those customers whose homes and buildings can safely receive electricity will, according to an update by National Public Radio.

“Certain sections, like Fort Myers Beach, that’s a search-and-rescue — and unfortunately in some areas — a recovery operation. And we are simply not going to put people in harm’s way by electrifying that area,” Silagy said, adding he suspected that would continue for at least another week.