NavarreDon

This facebook pic caught me off guard! Life after a monster I guess. People set up at the end of their driveways in parts of PC so kids could trick or treat. Talked to family in St Joe Beach and there was none. .

I saw this posted in a tweet this morning. It was accompanied by this: NEW: USGS confirms a 19 foot storm surge in Mexico Beach from Hurricane Michael. This sets a new record for the state of Florida.

Callaway area on this YouTube vid:

And a couple more:

Here are some aerials from The Callaway, Parker, Fountain, & Alford communities:

Mark Sudduth‏Verified account @hurricanetrack 8h8 hours ago Spent the day collecting cams that were set out for hurricane Michael. Along the way, did some post-hurricane work and met some amazing people. Still, in the front of my mind is how utterly devastated areas are. It’s beyond anything you can imagine unless you’ve lived it.

I’m in Panama City now heading to St Joe Beach. I will edit this later with updates. The scope of the damage is not done justice by pictures. It’s taking my breath away! Edit: Just a quick update yesterday was a 15 hour day + emotionally draining, I will do a write up with some pics of what I saw both coastal & inland this evening after work. Going to make this as brief as I can, 9 days after landfall: My Route over was 98E to Callaway, Hwy 22 to Wewahitchka, Hwy 386 to Mexico Beach, 98E to Port St Joe. On the way back we also drove Hwy 231, Hwy 2301, Hwy 20, Hwy 79. I've seen the wind damage from Andrew and the Surge impact from Katrina. Michael while maybe not as great, has both ( I did not view Tyndall or the West end of Mexico Beach)! The 3 most stunning things to me were the area of damage, the damage in Panama City, & the forest damage. I saw a small area of damage relatively speaking, regardless it was immense! Inland areas that I saw on the route have severe damage and aren't getting the attention they need. Panama city was stunning with the amount of structural damage sustained. I can only describe it as looking more like what I would consider tornadic damage rather than the usual Hurricane damage. The traffic is horrific as you can imagine. The forest damage is hard to fathom. Massive trees snapped like match sticks. Almost all hardwoods & even some pines are defoliated. A good bit of debarking in areas but not widespread (remember I didn't go to the AFB or MB). Power poles snapped like a small twigs. Wewahitchka some 25 miles inland has tremendous damage. Power seemed to be out in almost all areas. on the way home it was eerie to be in the heart of PC with darkness. At my Wife's cousin's house and in her neighborhood (St Joe Beach 2 blocks N of 98) the damage as you can imagine was overwhelming. A couple takeaways were the American Red Cross vehicle which looked like an Ice Cream Truck in shape slowly going down the road while a lady was saying "ARC hot meals, ARC we have hot meals" as people came from homes and yards and then slowly retreated. The other was when Beth (Cousin) showed me a lot of tiny mud splatters on curtains, table, inside window, from wind so powerful that it came in thru a closed and locked window that was never compromised. I could go on and on but said I would make it as short as possible. If you have any questions please feel free to ask & I will answer as best as I can. Here are a few pics we took (The forest pic from the air is not ours). Edit: I did want to add a version of the story by family who rode it out: Their initial thought of staying was @ 16.5 feet elevation, surge wasn't going to be an issue and 100-115 mph winds would be doable. They woke up after a restless night of sleep checked the storm and decided it might be best to go. While gathering items they were informed 98 was over washing in areas and they likely couldn't make it out. They didn't go into great detail about the ride out (I suspect it's to fresh & traumatic now) but here is what they said. Initial wind was out of the E and about 12:00 pm EDT (Gulf county/Bay county divides E&C time zone) it started getting pretty bad. They moved to a closet on the W side of the house. By 1:15 the wind had shifted to the S and was they felt like the eyewall had arrived. They migrated to an interior bathroom (a quick look out a window showed nothing but a sheet of grey). For the next 2 hours they waited in without speaking a word for the eye which never came while praying and wondering if they would survive. During this time they lost 3 windows, heard objects from outside pummeling the house, had had water (rain) invade from places they didn't think possible. The wind switched to a SW & finally to the W. By 3:00 pm EDT the worst was over. They were able to leave the bathroom and asses the inside of the house. About an hour later they were able to get outside and another round of shock began to set in.

Heading over to St Joe Beach tomorrow morning to assist family who rode it out. I will fill you in on their story and what I see along the way. I will have to come in from the north so I should have a decent idea of inland damage.

I think scientifically it’s important to discuss the strength of the storm, and this is directly pointed to those who were insinuating that it wasn’t what it was forecast wise along the points from landfall to its inland course. When you dig down past science it doesn’t matter what category it was for people like this! https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/us/hurricane-michael-girl-dead.html .

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hurricane-michael-flattened-towns-where-survivors-remain-disbelief-n919981

Most of the Panhandle aid is labor. As was posted many areas have been cut off & everyday people have taken it upon themselves to help clear & clean. I am only relaying what I was told. I did receive this facebook post from family in St Joe Beach whic is just east of Mexico Beach less than an hour ago. Update: Lee and I are still doing okay. We're camping in our house. The water came back a little while ago. We're being provided with lots of water, ice, MRE's, and much love and support from our neighbors. Just like everyone else, we have a lot of damage to our house and yard and a lot of work to do. Thank you all for your concern, calls, texts and prayers. I'm sorry that you all had to worry about me during the hurricane. You will never have to worry about me through another one because never again will I stay. Please pray for our little town, our neighbors and friends, and the safety of everyone trying to repair their homes. Peace love and happiness. .

I've been in contact with multiple volunteers doing all different kinds of assist. As most of you know pics & vids. don't do the scope of the damage justice. There are whole neighborhoods trapped by debris in many areas. Friends got the first u haul of supplies into Mexico Beach yesterday afternoon and people said they hadn't eaten since the morning before. Intense damage all the way from PC to Port St Joe plus northward. The rural inland communities are struggling with very little aid coming. The epicenter is obviously Tyndall to Mexico beach but the destruction spreads far and wide. Planning on going over Friday to do a welfare check on family in the St Joe Beach area ans volunteering with what ever is needed. One thing I will say is the amount of Panhandle aid pouring in is nothing short of amazing!

Stunning footage!!!

I suspect they will not keep any inlets on the Cape. The bay is completely open on the west side. It’s likely the cut was at an area called “Stump hole” this spit of land is barely wider than the road itself. The biggest economic driver of Gulf county is tourism fueled by the bay. It’s truly pristine and the only bay on the eastern gulf that gets almost no freshwater intrusion. I scallop there every year (one of the few places to do so). I assume that the leaders of Gulf county will do nothing that would mess with the ecosystem of the bay. .

Both hospitals in Panama City were destroyed. There was a steady stream of Medical helicopters yesterday over the Panhandle as they transported patients to various new locations. Here are some pics from Bay Medical Center.