Head of Miami Catholic Charities helps coordinate response to Ian

MIAMI  — The world heard about Hurricane Ian’s devastation along coastal southwest Florida, but the Catholic Charities network of agencies also will focus on lesser known but equally stricken communities and devastated farmworker enclaves in the region.

That was the reassurance given by Miami’s director of Catholic Charities following a fact-finding mission he made Oct. 1-2 to the greater Fort Myers region, and following preliminary conversations with seven Catholic Charities agency heads in Florida.

“As we continue to do these assessments in all these pockets of low-lying areas that are 6 to 8 feet under water – in places like Bonita Springs, Arcadia and Wauchula – that is where Catholic Charities will help: in these pockets you are not hearing anything about,” said Peter Routsis-Arroyo.

He served as CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Venice before moving to Miami. He also still owns a home in the greater Fort Myers region, which is in that diocese.

Hurricane Ian plowed into southwest Florida on the afternoon of Sept. 28 as a strong Category 4 storm. The top gust recorded by a National Weather Service station was 155 mph at Punta Gorda airport north of Fort Myers.

Gusts in the suburban area of Cape Coral, north of Fort Myers, reportedly reached 140 mph.

The storm dealt its most powerful blow near Port Charlotte, north of Fort Myers. Winds and storm surge wreaked havoc on coastal island communities such as Sanibel and Pine Island and all the way south to Naples, all within the Diocese of Venice.

By late Oct. 3, the Florida death toll had reached at least 100. It was expected to climb higher as door-to-door rescue operations continued, including in coastal islands such as Sanibel that are now only accessible by boat or helicopter.

With its statewide network of hurricane and disaster response experience, Catholic Charities is positioned to help Ian’s survivors who find themselves desperate at this time, including migrant farmer communities further inland, where search and rescue operations were still underway.