Under a clear blue sky, families living along the Florida Panhandle emerged from shelters and hotels to a perilous landscape of shattered homes and shopping centers, wailing sirens and hovering helicopters. Gov. Rick Scott said the Panhandle awoke to “unimaginable destruction. So many lives have been changed forever. So many families have lost everything..."
The full extent of Michael’s fury was only slowly becoming clear, with some of the hardest-hit areas difficult to reach with roads blocked by debris or water... Video from a drone revealed some of the worst damage in Mexico Beach, where the hurricane crashed ashore Wednesday as a Category 4 monster with 155 mph (250 kph) winds and a storm surge of 9 feet (2.7 meters).
Entire blocks of homes near the beach were obliterated, leaving concrete slabs in the sand. Rows and rows of other homes were rendered piles of splintered lumber. Entire roofs were torn away in the town of about 1,000 people, now a scene of utter devastation. State officials said 285 people in Mexico Beach had defied a mandatory evacuation order ahead of Michael. More than 375,000 people up and down the Gulf Coast were ordered or urged to clear out as Michael closed in. But emergency authorities lamented that many ignored the warnings.
National Guard troops made their way into the ground-zero town and found 20 survivors Wednesday night, and more rescue crews arrived Thursday. But the fate of many residents was unknown.
A PERSONAL DEPARTURE
I don't typically get personal in this blog, but this storm elicited a particularly visceral response in me. Perhaps it was the vivid TV images that streamed non-stop during Michael's daylight landfall. But a series of text messages from a friend of my wife's last night was sobering and brought everyone with whom we could share this story to their knees in prayer.
This friend's married daughter lives, with her husband, near what was once Mexico Beach. The husband's parents live nearby. The young couple had evacuated to Alabama for the storm, but the young man's father had opted to "ride out" the storm in their home, as his wife was in a nearby hospital. As Michael battered the town, a cryptic call from the father indicated that the roof had blown off their house. Nearby, the hospital itself was being damaged by the tornado-like winds. Then nothing more was heard.
Fearing for his parents, the young man left the safety of their refuge and headed back to the scene of the disaster. For a few long hours, nothing was heard from him. Then came word that he had found the former location of his parents home, but the structure had vanished. There was no sign of his father and his mother had been evacuated to an unknown hospital. The young couple's own home and the business where he worked were gone as well.
Night is now day again in Florida and we've not heard any more from them. Like many others with friends and family in the area, the vigil continues. Should we hear any more, I'll provide an update here. Suffice it to say that the memory of Michael should forever be a warning to a generation about heeding the advice of authorities to seek safety elsewhere during a predicted event like this.
UPDATE
Good news! After nearly 24 hours of searching, all of the individuals mentioned above have been located and are safe.
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