TAMPA, Fla. – Project DYNAMO, a veteran-led nonprofit organization, which conducts humanitarian search-and-rescue operations domestically and internationally, has successfully completed numerous missions since Hurricane Milton trounced Florida on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
Before daybreak on Thursday, Project DYNAMO team members took to the streets of Pasco County and began clearing roadways, which were blocked by downed trees and flooding allowing hundreds of households access to resources and emergency services.
The first successful DYNAMO mission as part of what has been dubbed “Operation Big Guava” took place around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. Team members from DYNAMO cleared a road in Dade City so a Florida Highway Patrolman could begin responding to emergency calls from victims of Hurricane Milton.
Shortly thereafter, team members from Project DYNAMO rescued a motorist whose vehicle was trapped in floodwaters. DYNAMO towed the car and driver to safety and provided the motorist a ride home following the incident.
Throughout the day Thursday and Friday, DYNAMO team members responded to pleas for gas from local residents who needed to run their generators to power life-saving medical equipment. Fuel has been hard to come by in the areas affected by Hurricane Milton, but DYNAMO’s reserve supply of fuel has helped keep power on for residents who need it the most.
On Saturday, more team members of Project DYNAMO are arriving from out of state and will link up with the existing team and begin conducting maritime search-and-rescue missions along the devastated southwest Florida coast in addition to providing assistance to those on the barrier islands of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
That operation is called “Operation Sunshine Storm.”
Complicating matters, rivers in the affected area have not yet crested since the storm, and are already posing major flood risks to those who are returning home after evacuating.
“Our organization was one of the very first to provide aid in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Milton, and with the damage this storm has caused, we will continue scaling up our operations in the coming days,” said Mario Duarte, president and CEO of Project DYNAMO. “Many of our team members live right here in Florida, and their first instinct was to help others. Our top-notch team will support those affected by Hurricane Milton until we know the people in their communities are safe.”
Earlier this week, many of Project DYNAMO’s team members were in western North Carolina with the group’s horseback team, assisting with search-and-rescue efforts from the deadly Hurricane Helene. Project DYNAMO volunteers are still working to carry out the organization’s mission in the Tar Heel State.
Project DYNAMO also has an ongoing mission in Israel.
To date, DYNAMO has rescued more than 7,000 people from war zones and natural disasters.
Project DYNAMO is entirely donor funded and veteran-led. Anyone interested in donating to support this effort can do so by visiting https://projectdynamo.net/donate/.
Founded during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, Project DYNAMO is an international search, rescue, aid and assistance 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Tampa, Florida with worldwide operations. Project DYNAMO operates where the United States government cannot, or does not. The primary objective of Project DYNAMO is to provide assistance to those impacted in disaster areas and conflict zones throughout the world. Notably, Project DYNAMO conducted the first air-rescue missions from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control, and has negotiated the release and exfiltrated numerous Americans from captivity and false imprisonment.
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