1,000+ People Still Missing More Than Week After Hurricane Michael

A NOAA aerial shot of Bay County, Florida after Hurricane Michael shows
"HELP" spelled out on a lawn. A man created the SOS sign out of fallen
trees. A niece found the aerial photo on line, leading to the rescue of
the uncle, his wife and a friend. 

Where are they?

About 1,100 people are still missing more than a week after Hurricane Michael smashed ashore in the Florida Panhandle, Reuters reports.

Most of those missing live in or near Panama City, and many of them are elderly, disabled, impoverished or live alone.

In other words, those are the very people who are paricularly vulnerable in hurricanes and even more vulnerable in a hurricane aftermath. They are more likely to have a harder time finding food, water, fuel, medicine and medical care after such a terrible storm.

That's why it's imperative to find them. Chances are they survived the hurricane but are at risk of dyin from the aftermath. Assuming they're still alive.

Reuters says:

"Teams made up of hundreds of volunteers with the Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue organization were seaching for more than 1,135 peopel who lost contact with friends or family."

A big part of the problem is a continued lack of cell phone service in the worst of the hurricane zone. Many of the missing people might be fine and are taking shelter with local neighbors or organizations. But worried friends and loved ones can't reach them because the cell phones aren't working.

That's the optimistic look. Who knows what kind of trouble some of them might be in?

So far, at least 27 people are confirmed dead from Hurricane Michael. We probably won't know for weeks the fate of those 1,100 people with whom we've lost contact.

Rural areas in the hurricane zone are still a tangled mess of fallen trees and debris. Roads are still blocked and people who live there can't be reached yet.

In the hardest hit coastal community, Mexico Beach, the number of missing has fallen to 3, down from dozens a few days earlier. Two confirmed deaths were reported in Mexico Beach, which normally has a population of 1,200. Many residents had wisely fled before the storm hit.

One rescue from the aftermath of Hurricane Michael had a very high tech and low tech happy ending. 

Amber Gee was scrolling through NOAA aerial images of the hurricane zone,  hoping to get a hint of how badly damaged homes belonging to friends and family were. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted an image that was clearly her grandmother's house, with the word "HELP" spelled out on the lawn.

The grandmother had fled, but Gee's uncle, his wife and a friend stayed at the house during the hurricane. They were stranded and isolated by fallen trees, so the uncle used some of the fallen trees to spell "HELP" on the lawn.

Gee called county emergency services, who hacked their way through the fallen trees to the house. The uncle, woman and neighbor are all OK.