Hurricane Michael: Florida Death Toll At 8 As Searches Continue

May 9, 2020 Off By HotelSalesCareers

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TAMPA, FL — Two days after Hurricane Michael swept through Florida’s Panhandle, first responders continue to rescue victims of the storm as a clearer picture begins to emerge of the widespread destruction caused by the category 4 storm.

Florida emergency officials say they have rescued nearly 200 people and checked 25,000 structures since Hurricane Michael battered the state this week.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the storm has risen to eight in Florida, according to emergency management officials. Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey reported that one 94-year-old woman died there while four deaths were reported in Gadsen County and three in Jackson County, according to the sheriff’s offices in those counties.

Officials in both counties say they’re not releasing names or other details yet while families are notified.

In a briefing at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee on Friday evening, authorities said they had wrapped up their initial rapid searches and had begun more-intense searches including inspecting collapsed buildings.

Officials say they’ve completed 40 percent of these “secondary” searches and hope to finish up during daylight hours on Saturday.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday said first responders have begun airdropping food and water into the hardest hit Florida counties.

Approximately three million Meals Ready to Eat, two million gallons of water and two million pounds of ice were being distributed.

While the storm has passed, Florida will be dealing with basic living challenges for months to come. From Mexico Beach, where little remains, to hundreds of thousands without power.

On Friday, Scott also activated an emergency loan program for small businesses affected by Hurricane Michael. The program provides short-term, no-interest loans of up to $50,000 to businesses with two to 100 employees. See Florida Governor Activates Emergency Loans For Small Businesses

With the number of people without power still above 350,000, Scott told utility companies that he would help them get additional resources from the federal government. Some 500,000 gallons of fuel is being distributed daily at 40 fueling stations to support restoration efforts.

“Restoring power in our communities quickly is one of the most vital things we can do to help families get back on their feet,” Scott said. “These additional crews will help get utility restoration workers into our communities faster, so they can do their jobs and bring back the power.

According to the governor’s office, five utilities have drawn down 18 push crews. So-called push crews clear a path ahead of utility crews so utilities can focus solely on getting power restored.

Approximately 200 generators were also being deployed to impacted counties to bring traffic lights back online. This will free up police from directing traffic in some areas. Another 2,000 personnel were working to restore cell service and communications.

Getting power restored throughout the area is a priority, said FEMA Administrator Brock Long, in an interview with CNN on Thursday.

“We have over 30,000 workers from around the United States that have been pre-staged to try to work as quickly as possible to get the electric back on,” he said.

By 6.am. Friday, the state said that there 351,433 customers still without power roughly 3.3 percent of the accounts statewide. Some of the hardest hit counties so far include Bay with more than 111,000 customers without power and 111,000 in Leon.

Much of the efforts are focused on the hardest hit areas such as Mexico Beach and Panama City.

“We’re broken here,” Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told the Tampa Bay Times.

The Central Florida Urban Search and Rescue Team reported that first responders from the unit had helped multiple people, including two who had suffered injures as they team members went door to door.

At least 11 people were killed in three states by Michael. It may be days or longer before crews are able to get a better sense of how many people are still unaccounted for.

CNN quoted one Mexico Beach resident talking about watching a neighbor being washed out into the ocean.

“Unimaginable destruction,” was how Gov. Scott described the scenes from the Sunshine State’s Panhandle. “So many lives have been changed forever. So many families have lost everything.”

Scott also opened the governor’s mansion to 50 officers from the Florida Highway Patrol while they are deployed for recovery efforts.

Patch is tracking every move of Hurricane Michael. Get all the updates on the storm by subscribing to Patch’s free breaking news alerts and daily newsletters.

Michael was the most powerful storm to ever hit the Florida Panhandle – and the strongest one to hit the mainland United States in 50 years.

Many Florida Panhandle residents were still getting their first look at the damage Michael left behind.

President Donald Trump declared parts of Florida a major disaster area on Thursday. The declaration came as Scott was getting a firsthand look at row upon row of collapsed homes, mangled businesses and flood-ravaged streets left behind by Michael.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN Thursday that the Sunshine State is looking at a “multi-year recovery effort” and compared the devastation to Florida’s Hurricane Andrew, which struck South Florida in 1992.

“We’ve got to rebuild the electric grid,” Rubio said. “This is not restoring power. From what I’m hearing this morning, they have to rebuild the electric grid based on some damage that’s been described to me.”

FEMA administrator Brock Long said Friday that victims of storm should also accept some responsibility for their safety.

It will take time before the state can get a true estimate of just how extensive the damage is. Storm conditions on Wednesday hampered rescue efforts and kept officials from being able to survey the areas – many of which are flooded to some degree – that were hardest hit.

From discovering if homes are still standing to whether people are still trapped or whether more than the two reported deaths occurred, Thursday will not be an easy day.

Scott warned residents that while the storm has passed, people still need to be very careful as most of the damage remains.

“It is imperative for you to stay indoors as our first responders arrive.,” he said. “The roads need to be clear so they can respond as needed without inference.”

The state faces a massive cleanup effort with the extent of the damage still to be discovered.

“We are going to be aggressive with recovery and response over the coming days and will do everything we can to assist our communities that have seen impacts from this devastating storm,” Scott said.

“The entire world has watched as this monster storm has devastated the Panhandle. We will recover and we will do it together.”

Meanwhile, Salvation Army Florida says that “the generosity of FedEx” is making it possible for them get a mobile feeding kitchen to Panama City – one of the hardest hit areas – to assist in efforts there.

Photo via Salvation Army Florida.

There also has been offers help from the private sector. Among them, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced via Twitter late Wednesday that the company would be helping out with the recovery efforts.

Gov. Scott added that resources had been strategically deployed and were in position to move swiftly to help people – whether they still need rescuing or just supplies.

“We are deploying a massive wave of response,” he said. “We are sending help from land, sea, and air.”

He added that rescue teams positioned in Tampa with “food, water, and every other critical resources ready to respond.”

He added that before the storm had struck, trucks had been loaded with tons of food, water, and other critical supplies that were ready to move in, including 1.5 million Meals Ready-to-Eat, 1 million gallons of water and 400,000 pounds of ice. Meanwhile, hundreds of Florida Highway Patrol troopers were on their way to storm-ravaged parts of the state.

Scott has also called up 3,500 Florida National Guard soldiers and airmen. They are equipped with more than 1,000 high-water vehicles, 13 helicopters and 16 boats. The guard had also coordinated for four CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the New York and Mississippi National Guards.

Another large issue facing the state will be helping the tens of thousands who were displaced by the storm.

Some 54 shelters were open, or in the process of opening throughout the 35 Florida counties that fall under the governor’s declaration of emergency. State officials said that 6,700 people were in the shelters around the time the hurricane made landfall.

It’s not yet known how quickly – if at all – those people will be able to return home.

MICHAEL HIT AS A CATEGORY 4 STORM

Fueled by abnormally warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Michael had organized quickly and made landfall around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday as the strongest storm the Panhandle has ever seen. By 2 a.m., the storm was moving toward South Carolina at 20 mph – it had slowed to 13 mph at one point – and its maximum sustained windspeed had dropped to 60 mph.

That’s not even half as fast as the terrifying 155 mph winds generated when Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach, Florida, as a Category 4 storm.

As of 2 a.m., miraculously, there had been only one death reported. A spokeswoman for the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office told Patch that a man was killed Wednesday evening. He was at home in Greensboro when a tree smashed through the roof after being uprooted by the storm.

Michael ripped roofs from homes, sank boats and carried life-threatening storm surge, hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall as it slammed into Florida.

Once Michael had moved into Georgia, Gov Scott warned that, despite that, people need to be very careful.

“If you live in impacted coastal communities, DO NOT TRY TO COME HOME TONIGHT,” he said on Twitter just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday. “The roads are not clear.”

Scott said the situation is still dangerous and urged people to stay indoors.

“The worst thing that you can do right now is act foolishly and put your life and the lives of others in danger,” he said.

That danger was driven home in Holmes County where the sheriff’s office said that they’ve responded to several wrecks resulting from drivers running into downed trees in the road.

Another way that Michael showed his strength was by forcing Waffle House – the restaurant that never closes – to shutter 30 restaurants in the region.

USA Today reports that the chain closed 22 outlets in Florida and eight in Georgia.

The sheer fury of Michael was unprecedented in Florida’s Panhandle region and formed a sharp contrast to the calm waters that many Americans experience when they visit the state on vacation. A federal official briefing President Trump said Michael could be the most destructive hurricane to strike the Panhandle since 1851.

Here, a house breaks into pieces in Panama City, Florida:

See Also: Here Are Florida’s Emergency Shelters

By 2 a.m., the National Hurricane Center had stopped warning of damaging winds and storm surge in Florida and was focused on Georgia and South Carolina.

In Santa Rosa County, Garcon Point Bridge and the Navarre Causeway were shut down as a result of the high winds. Officials said they would reopen as soon as sustained winds returned to under 39 mph.

At one point, Tyndall Air Force Base reported wind speeds of 119 mph while the Panama City campus of Florida State University reported 116 mph winds. A Weatherflow station in Mexico Beach reported winds of 104 mph.

A National Ocean Service water level station at Apalachicola reported more than 7.7 feet of inundation above ground level at one point.

They also warned that heavy rainfall could lead to “life-threatening” flash floods in the Florida Panhandle and big bend, southeast Alabama and portions of southwest and central Georgia.

The National Hurricane Center said water levels were beginning to recede in some Florida locations; however the combination of a dangerous storm surge and tide could still cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.

The water has the potential to reach 5 to 10 feet from Tyndall Air Force Base to Aucilla River, 3 to 5 feet from the Okaloosa-Walton County line to Tyndall Air Force Base. The surge could reach 4 to 6 feet from Aucilla River to Chassahowitzka and 2 to 4 feet from Chassahowitzka to Anclote River.

The governor urged Florida residents who sheltered in place to remain in interior rooms and hallways for the duration of the storm.

Patch editors Colin Miner and Jeff Stacklin contributed to this report along with the Associated Press.

Photos:

Photo 1: Central Florida Urban Search and Rescue Team show the Beacon Hill area of Port St. Joe in Gulf County.

Photo 2 In this image made from video and provided by SevereStudios.com, damage from Hurricane Michael is seen in Mexico Beach, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the Florida Panhandle to reach trapped people in Michael’s wake Thursday as daylight yielded scenes of rows upon rows of houses smashed to pieces by the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental U.S. (SevereStudios.com via AP)

Photo 3: In this image made from video and provided by SevereStudios.com, damage from Hurricane Michael is seen in Mexico Beach, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the Florida Panhandle to reach trapped people in Michael’s wake Thursday as daylight yielded scenes of rows upon rows of houses smashed to pieces by the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental U.S. (SevereStudios.com via AP)

Photo 4: In this image made from video and provided by SevereStudios.com, damage from Hurricane Michael is seen in Mexico Beach, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the Florida Panhandle to reach trapped people in Michael’s wake Thursday as daylight yielded scenes of rows upon rows of houses smashed to pieces by the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental U.S. (SevereStudios.com via AP)

Photo 5: Debris scatters an area in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Photo 6: Rescue personnel perform a search in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Photo 7: A boat sits amidst debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Photo 8: Firefighter Austin Schlarb performs a door to door search in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Photo 9: An American flag flies amidst destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Photo 10: Boats lay sunk and damaged at the Port St. Joe Marina, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 in Port St. Joe, Fla. Supercharged by abnormally warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle with terrifying winds of 155 mph Wednesday, splintering homes and submerging neighborhoods. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

See related stories:

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Here Are Florida’s 35 Emergency Shelters
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Airbnb Activates Open Homes Program For Hurricane Michael
Hurricane Michael Causes A Flood of Storm Footage, Memes Online
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Hurricane Michael Speeds Closer; Some Florida Evacuations Ordered
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