VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — New insight was released recently about how emergency crews responded to the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian, including the death of five residents in Volusia County.  

Speaking to Daytona Beach city commissioners Wednesday, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood revealed the county dispatchers received five times as many 911 calls at the height of the storm as they do during a normal day.

During Ian, they handled 1,000 calls countywide in a day for people to be evacuated, he said.

"How do you plan for something like this?" he asked. "You try your best and you wing it. We did our best at getting the resources we could get to share with all of the cities."

Chitwood praised the response of public works, utilities, police, fire, and EMS crews during the devastating event. In all, they handled 11,000 calls to 911 in a 24-hour period during Ian, and he said each call was answered within 15 seconds.

"Your staff really, really shined during a natural disaster, and when you think of that — 11,000 calls, 911 calls for help — that's unprecedented," Chitwood said.