Coast Guard Prepares for Hurricane Milton Response

OCTOBER 10, 2024 — The Coast Guard District Seven Area Command pre-staged and prepositioned personnel, aircraft, and boats in advance of Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall late Wednesday evening.

“The Coast Guard stands Always Ready to support the State of Florida and any other impacted states or communities in the wake of hurricane Milton,” said Rear. Adm. Douglas Schofield, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District. “Our Coast Guard crews are part of the communities where they live and serve. Our homes and families were also impacted by Helene and now, they are threatened by Milton. We urge you to listen to the National Weather Service warnings, to state officials, including the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and your local or county emergency response agencies. Stay off the water. If you choose to shelter in place, remain in a safe and secure area until officials provide additional guidance.”

The Coast Guard’s priorities in responding to hurricane Milton include the following:

Respond to urgent search and rescue (SAR) cases to assist those in distress;
Assess damage to seaports and expedite their safe reopening;
Respond to marine pollution incidents resulting from the storm;
Continue to ensure the safety of our Coast Guard crews and their families.

“We’d like to emphasize that you are the most critical part of hurricane response operations,” said Capt. Nicolette Vaughan, District Seven area commander for Hurricane Milton. “Early preparations and adherence to the instructions of local officials regarding evacuations make all the difference in our post-storm response efforts. The Coast Guard works closely with our federal, state, tribal, county, and municipal agencies to rescue and assist anyone in distress. Please know that hurricanes are deadly, and the Coast Guard’s ability to conduct rescues can be diminished or unavailable at the height of the storm.”

The Coast Guard has the following resources identified for Hurricane Milton response:

Active duty, reserve, civilian, and Auxiliary personnel from around the country;
27 aircraft, including 17 on immediate standby and 10 Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft;
Reserve aircrews from units around the country to support airborne SAR and overflights;
30 cutters, including 10 underway and 20 at heavy weather moorings;
Three floodwater response teams with 16 crews and 19 boats at Camp Blanding;
Trailered mobile incident command suite and communication trailer with 16 personnel, portable antenna and satellite systems for restoration of Rescue 21 tower outages;
Area Command Post at Coast Guard Air Station Miami;
Incident Command Teams at Coast Guard sectors Key West, St. Petersburg, Miami, Jacksonville, Charleston and Marine Safety Units Canaveral and Savannah;
Coast Guard Incident Management Assist Team detachment at Sector St. Petersburg;
Remote support from Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command in Portsmouth, Virginia and Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to provide additional resources as necessary in the wake of the storm.

The Coast Guard’s response to hurricanes in impacted coastal communities is in support of the affected state. In addition to our statutory missions, the Coast Guard works with federal, state, and local partners to complete mission assignments as directed by the governor and FEMA. During domestic incidents in the 50 states and four U.S. territories, the Coast Guard works closely with the U.S. National Guard to provide disaster relief to impacted communities.

As a reminder, social media should never be used to report life-threatening distress or emergencies. Report urgent distress to the Coast Guard on VHF radio channel 16 or by dialing 911.

Updated port condition changes by the Coast Guard captains of the ports are available on the Homeport website and announced on official unit social media pages throughout the Seventh District. Check below for your local Coast Guard sector page:  

Refer to the National Hurricane Center website and National Weather Service reports for the most updated storm developments and forecasted impacts.

Imagery of the Coast Guard’s storm response efforts will be posted to our official social media accounts and Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Hub (DVIDS). Press releases will be posted to the D7 News Room.

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Joint Information Center: 786-373-6675, D7hurricaneresponse2024@gmail.com