Post-Michael Florida: Fear, frustration and life on the edge
Post-Michael Florida: Fear, frustration and life on the edge
Missing relatives and worries that the looters are right outside the door. Dirty clothes. Long hours lines for gasoline, insurance adjusters, food and water. No electricity, no air conditioning, no schools, no information and little real improvement in sight.
Everyday life is a series of fears and frustrations, both large and small, for thousands of people living on the edge, more than a week after Hurricane Michael razed thousands of square kilometers of land. hurricane Panhandle area of Florida.
Erin Maxwell waited in the fuel line for more than an hour on Thursday at a gas station that she never opened. "I'm tired and I want to go to sleep, I do not want to wait in another line," Maxwell said, his eyes closed and his head tilted back in the seat.
Meanwhile, husband Mickey Calhoun worried about the fate of his mother, Anita Newsome, 74 years old. The retired sheriff's deputy was last seen when officers took her to the hospital the day before Michael made landfall, her son said.
"We can not find it or say anything anywhere," said Calhoun, 54, exasperated, with stained khaki pants and a dirty towel around his neck.
A few miles away, Ed Kirkpatrick, 70, and his wife, Sandra Sheffield, 72, crouch in a splintered mobile home surrounded by fallen pine trees. A noisy generator feeds the old box fan that blows hot air through its lair. Both are afraid to leave due to widespread reports of looting.
The man, a diabetic who has a large scar in the middle of his chest from heart surgery, needs medical attention and ice to cool his insulin, said Sheffield, who has a pacemaker. But getting out in traffic takes hours and precious fuel, he said, and looters could appear at any time.
"I do not want to go anywhere because I know I'm safe here," Sheffield said, burying her head in a crooked towel to cry.
Michael crashed into the Florida Panhandle with winds of 155 mph on October 10 and retained hurricane winds in south Georgia, which also affected the Carolinas and Virginia. The Florida authorities on Thursday say that the storm killed 24 people in the state, bringing the total number of deaths to at least 34.
With energy still out of much of the Panhandle and thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged by Michael, almost nothing is normal. Even simple tasks are difficult or impossible.
Driving times are doubled or tripled because roads are obstructed by police and fire trucks, utility trucks, returning residents and people seeking help. The lines are long out of a discount store where more than two dozen insurance companies, financial services and cell phones have been installed in a temporary community of open tents on asphalt.
Unusually warm temperatures in the 80s add to the misery because very few people can cool off with air conditioning. Bottled water is plentiful at roadside assistance stations; Ice is another matter.
The irregular cell phone service leaves the most vulnerable with little information to help them survive. Residents in Panama City are enthusiastically asking for information about what happened about 30 kilometers away on the devastated beach of Mexico, and advice on how to find pharmacies, coin-operated laundries and stores that could sell batteries to power flashlights with Beams that fade.
Kelli Ladik lives with four daughters and her husband in a caravan parked outside their house by the bay, which has serious water damage due to the rain that was spilled when the roof failed. Ladik is so, so tired of the dirt.
"We need running water more than anything, and being able to bathe after a full day of cleaning would be fantastic," Ladik said.
Their children, three of whom are of school age, are all out of class and it is not clear when classes will be resumed. Some school buildings are badly damaged and leaders still try to account for all the teachers, administrators and others that are needed for the system to work again.
Seeing friends and loved ones suffering is the hardest part for Nancy Bartice, who used to live near Ed Kirkpatrick and his wife. Feeling unable to help the couple, Bartice was trying to get to the nearby beach in Panama City to get gasoline and, perhaps, a better place to stay. Who knows how long the 16-mile trip could take?
"They have been the most blessed couple," said Bartice, struggling against tears. "They helped me in many bad situations, and I want to do the same in return."
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Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, and Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.
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To learn the latest about Hurricane Michael, visit https://www.apnews.com/tag/Hurricanes.
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