A first look at Mexico Beach after Hurricane Michael
Imagine the worst disaster you’ve ever seen. Multiply by 1,000.
Mexico Beach, Florida post-hurricane looks worse than you can imagine. Mix Hurricane Katrina with Hurricane Frederic with the Tuscaloosa tornado. Multiply that by 1,000. Everything is gone, and what isn’t gone is so badly mangled that it might as well be.
It will be weeks, likely months, before power is restored. Power poles and pine trees are snapped in half. Live wires dangle like confetti streamers at some awful party no one wants to attend. The power sub stations are obliterated.
The roof of the Methodist church is now in the middle of the highway. Ceiling fans stick up out of the sand like absurd seashells, detached from the homes where they once brought light and comfort.
There are no seagulls and no signs of life beyond law enforcement and search and rescue teams digging, calling, hoping, praying.
The closest cell signal is a specific parking space in a specific parking lot 20 miles away, and it’s spotty. The closest gas is 50 miles up the road, cash only, IF they haven’t sold out, and if you have enough gas to endure the hour-long wait.
Many residents have not yet seen their homes, and I dread the moment when they…
