Florida sheriff defends Lee County's evacuation plan, prep for Hurricane Ian: 'We wouldn't change anything'

close

Video

Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno defends Lee County evacuation plan: We wouldn't change anything

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno argues Hurricane Ian was ‘unpredictable’ and the hard-hit county did everything it could ‘the proper way’ to ensure people’s safety.

Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno defended Lee County's evacuation order on Monday, firing back against critics questioning the decision not to impose a mandatory evacuation order for Hurricane Ian until the day before the storm ravaged the area.

In an interview on "The Story," Marceno praised the hard-hit county's preparations leading up Ian’s landfall, telling Fox News host Martha MacCallum that Ian's "unpredictable" trajectory made it difficult to guess exactly where it was going to strike.

"A lot of people want to sit here and say ‘oh, could you have done it quicker, could you have done it differently.’ I’m here to tell you that this storm was so unpredictable," Marceno said.

FEMA HEAD DEFENDS LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA OFFICIALS' HURRICANE IAN PREP: ‘STORM WAS VERY UNPREDICTABLE’

"But," he added. "I can tell you this with certainty. At the emergency operations center, we made that call the second we thought and we were able and we wouldn’t change anything. We want everyone to listen, we can't force them out of their homes. But we did everything we could the proper way."

John Quigley carries a piece of artwork made by his daughter, the only thing he found to salvage from his collapsed home, as he pulls his girlfriend's son Sebastian in a cart while walking off the island, two days after the passage of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Marceno said he was initially planning to send resources to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, whose county was originally in the line of a direct hit.

"I said ‘hey, it’s coming your way and I’m going to send everyone I have to help you.’ Then, the storm made unpredictable landfall here in Lee County and we got hit hard," he explained.

Marceno said he and county commissioners were monitoring the storm "every second" leading up to its landfall.

"We were in the projected path. But again, these hurricanes are very, very unpredictable. You never really know. We can project all we want. But Mother Nature lets you know what it’s going to do…"

DESANTIS PUSHES BACK ON CNN REPORTER'S QUESTION ABOUT LATE LEE COUNTY EVACUATION ORDER

A New York Times report focused on Lee Country suggested they had failed to properly respond to the storm by issuing a delayed mandatory evacuation order. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out a CNN reporter for suggesting as much in a subsequent exchange.

Rescue personnel search a flooded trailer park after Hurricane Ian passed by the area Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers, Florida.  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

DeSantis explained that many reports days prior to the storm did not show Lee County, which includes Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island, within the range of Hurricane Ian, leading many citizens to make their own decisions up to 48 hours before landfall. However, he reiterated that more attention was given to Tampa, likely leading people to hesitate on evacuating.

As of Monday evening, over 40 deaths have been reported in Lee County, related directly and indirectly to the storm.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"We got hit so hard," Marceno said. "This storm was continuously moving slow but packing such a punch. We’re going through rubble. We’re going through properties that don’t exist anymore that you have chunks of concrete, you have 100-foot boats that are thrown and we don’t know exactly what we’re getting into. But what we do know is that our local, state and federal partners are coming together with search teams and going through the debris to make sure if a loved one is in there, we get them out the proper way."

Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.