Valley SERVPRO employees travel to Florida to help hurricane victims

The storm surge from Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon, causing widespread flooding and destruction in much of the state.

As this storm continues to wreak havoc on communities across the state of Florida, services from across the country are rushing to the Sunshine State to help those in need.

More than a dozen SERVPRO employees from Warren will do their best to make the long journey Friday morning.

“Part of the process of becoming the SERVPRO you want to be is developing a team that can respond to the largest losses in the country,” said Jim Standohar, SERVPRO’s director of marketing.

SERVPRO is taking about 15 employees Friday morning on a 1,200-mile trip to Fort Myers, Florida, one of the hardest-hit regions in the Sunshine State.

“SERVPRO is fortunate to have a team of over 230 employees locally in Warren, Ohio, and obviously all the equipment and vehicles to help make a big hit,” said Standohar.

“All of our equipment will be loaded with box trucks and semi-trailer dryers, and we’ll have portable power solutions for people out there,” Standohar said.

The SERVPRO team can be down south for days, weeks or months when traveling where help is most needed.

“It just speaks to the makeup of the population,” Standohar said. “We have a very good-hearted group of people who want to help in any way possible.”

SERVPRO’s trip to Florida is voluntary. Friday morning clear and hit the road at 8 o’clock