Overview

• The state chartered two flights and deployed a navy-escorted cruise ship to rescue over 1,500 U.S. citizens, including Birthright program participants.
• Evacuees were first transported by sea to Cyprus before boarding flights to Tampa, where Gov. DeSantis personally greeted arriving passengers.
• State officials reported that more than 1,110 people were brought to safety on a passenger ferry and over 300 were flown directly under state coordination.
• Florida’s Division of Emergency Management described the operation as its most challenging and logistically complex mission to date.
• The U.S. State Department is arranging separate evacuations for non-essential diplomats and their families as violence in the region intensifies.