Valley SERVPRO crews travel to Florida to help hurricane victims

The storm from Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon and caused widespread flooding and devastation across much of the state.

As this hurricane damage continues to rip through communities throughout the State of Florida, services from across the country are making their way to the Sunshine State to assist those in need.

Over a dozen SERVPRO employees from Warren will make the long journey Friday morning to do what they can to help.

"Part of the process in becoming the SERVPRO you want to become is to obviously develop your team into one that can respond to some of the largest losses around the country," said Jim Standohar, Marketing Director for SERVPRO. 

SERVPRO is taking about 15 of their crew members Friday morning on the 1200-mile trek to Fort Myers, Florida, which is one of the hardest hit regions in the Sunshine State.

"SERVPRO locally in Warren, Ohio is fortunate to have a team here of over 230 employees and obviously all the equipment and vehicles necessary to help produce a large loss," Standohar said. 

"All of our equipment will be loaded to box truck and semi-trailers with drying equipment and we'll also have portable power solutions for people down there who have lost power," Standohar said. 

The SERVPRO team could be down south for days, weeks, or even months as they travel wherever the most help is needed.

"It just speaks to the fabric of the people," Standohar said. "We have a group of people who just have great hearts and want to help in any way possible."

The SERVPRO trip to Florida is volunteer-based. They hit the road Friday morning bright and early at 8 a.m.