President Donald Trump and the First Lady have traveled to the storm zone in northern Florida and Georgia to see the destructive power of Hurricane Michael first hand.
PANAMA CITY (CBSMiami/CNN) – President Donald Trump and the First Lady have traveled to the storm zone in northern Florida and Georgia to see the destructive power of Hurricane Michael first hand.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott greeted Trump upon his arrival and the President immediately praised Scott for an “incredible” response to a storm that flattened homes and left thousands without electricity.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were greeted by Governor Rick Scott upon their arrival at Eglin Air Force Base, about 100 miles west of Mexico Beach where Michael came ashore last Wednesday.
“While we’re here, we’re going to be doing a pretty big tour and then we’re going to Georgia. I’m going to Georgia, Rick Scott, your governor, has done an incredible job, and all of your people have been amazing — working with FEMA, working with the first responders, and always law enforcement,” Trump told reporters.
“The job they’ve done in Florida has been incredible. And likewise, I’m hearing, in Georgia, very good things, Rick. So I want to thank you. You’re a great Governor. You really have been. He steps up in the biggest emergencies, the biggest problems, and he gets it done. So, Rick Scott, thank you,” he added.
Trump is supporting Scott, a fellow Republican, who is running for the U. S. Senate in the November 6th congressional elections.
The President said the biggest thing Monday was “just making sure everyone is safe, that they’re fed.”
Five days after Michael slammed the Florida Panhandle an untold number of people are still unaccounted for. At least 18 people have died since Hurricane Michael made landfall Wednesday with powerful 155 mph winds – eight of them in Florida, including Steven Sweet, 44, who died when an oak tree fell on his Gretna home.
An 11-year-old girl died in Georgia when a metal carport, blown about by high winds, came crashing through her family’s roof. Two of the three people who were killed in North Carolina died when their vehicle struck a tree that had fallen because of high winds, McDowell County officials said.
Six people died in Virginia. Four drowned and a firefighter was killed when a tractor-trailer lost control and hit his truck on a wet highway in Hanover County. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management said Saturday the sixth person died in Charlotte County.
More than 190,000 homes and businesses in Florida remain without electricity, along with about 120,000 homes and businesses in Georgia.
Crews are using bulldozers to move debris and cutting trees with chainsaws to clear highways and hundreds of roads blocked by the wreckage.
“What’s taking up most of your time right now just gaining access to some of these areas,” said Panama City Fire Chief Alex Baird.
The fire department has received more than 200 calls for checks on residents. But Baird said it could take days or even weeks before those checks will be completed. Crews need to go door-to-door because there is no power, and cell phone service is spotty.
In Cape San Blas, several homes were pushed off their foundations by the strong storm surge.
Mark, who didn’t want to give his last name, told police he tried to get his next-door neighbor, an older man, to evacuate but he refused.
“Another friend of mine found him and police recovered the body,” he said.
Crews are still looking for bodies and survivors in Mexico Beach, a small community bulldozed by the storm’s 155 mph winds and 14 foot storm surge.
Joseph Zahralban is overseeing the search and recovery missions in Mexico Beach.
He said 230 people rode out the storm in the coastal town. After an initial search of homes and debris piles, 30 to 35 people are still unaccounted for.
“Today is the first day we are focusing on debris piles, naturally occurring piles that were moved by storm surge and we’re beginning to search those as well,” Zahralban said on Sunday.
Workers cleaning up giant mounds of debris with a claw are being told to keep watch for human bodies which may be buried in the rubble of destroyed homes.
Zahralban said the body count could go up in Mexico Beach but he hopes as communication improves the list of people unaccounted for will go down.
“They might not have been accounted for, they can call into their local EOC, local city hall, and advise that they are okay or send word somehow that they are okay,” he said.
The widespread destruction has left many people living in dire conditions. Residents have been waiting in long lines to collect bottled water and ready-to-eat meals (MREs) at several distribution centers. Helicopters are also airdropping food and water to remote areas.
FEMA has 14 teams in place in Florida to help people register for disaster assistance. There are also 17 distribution points throughout Florida and Georgia where people can get food and water in places where stores remain closed or there are limited supplies.
Some people have taken matters into their own hands and resorted to looting.
“This (storm) hit so hard and so fast that the different aspects of human nature is going to come out, and people are going to do anything to survive,” said Panama City resident Christopher Donahue.
Panama City Fire Department Division Chief Scott Flitcraft said that within three or four hours of the storm’s impact, many dollar stores and convenience stores in the area were looted.
Authorities were also investigating reports of a fatal shooting in Panama City.
Others in the city are trying to retain a sense of normalcy.
Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City sustained some damage in the storm, so the church held its Sunday morning service outside.
“For the last couple of days I’ve just been walking down the streets, going from house to house,” said Senior Pastor Steven Kyle. “And one of the first things that everybody has said is, ‘Are we going to have church? Can we have church?’”
“They just wanted the community,” he said.
The future of thousands of students also remains unclear, especially those in Bay County, where schools are closed until further notice.
