ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A small army is in full force at St. Pete Air — Pilots are preparing for a "compassion flight" over southwest Florida.

"We’re going to check out as much property as we can relay back to them, so we can know what we need to down there and how to get it into these places," said Patrick Young, Sol Relief pilot.

Sol Relief is a St. Petersburg nonprofit dedicated to flying resources to areas hit by disaster. The crew's first flight was over the areas Hurricane Ian hit the hardest. 

The path of devastation it left was staggering.

"One of the first things in places like this after disaster is the hopelessness, we bring in hope, we bring in survival aid," Dr. Harris Ambush, Sol Relief Director, said.

Dr. Ambush said their volunteer pilots will be making countless trips to Fort Myers and the surrounding area. 

"We have a wonderful pilot community, they donate their time, their resources, their skills to fly the resources down there," he said.

And it isn't just for immediate disaster relief, it's for every phase of recovery.

"Generators, chainsaws to help clear the road, water filters, we get a lot of those," Dr. Ambush said. "After that, we continue to get assessments on the ground, with the people and the organizations that are there, what they still need."

Their first mission: to get visuals so they know the best way to get supplies to those in need. 

"When it hits so close to home, it’s really emotional, these are our neighbors, we are just a few hours away, we are sending our love and support," Dr. Ambush said. "It is a magnitude that we can only hope people can get back on their feet relatively quickly, and we’re here to help them."