Recovery Slow In Florida After Hurricane Michael, One Year Later

A house in Panama City, Florida damaged by Hurricane Michael last
year still sits unrepaired. Photo by Valerie Crowder/WFSU.

Just about a year ago, on October 10, 2018, category 5 Hurricane Michael slammed ashore at Mexico Beach, on the Florida panhandle, with 160 mph winds.

Needless to say, the area in and around Mexico Beach was pretty much leveled.  As the one-year anniversary approaches, the area is still struggling big time, as you will see in the sad video at the bottom of this post. 

You can tell some early hopefulness faded.  On some buildings, blue tarps had been placed over the remains of roof, as property owners hoped to salvage what they could and rebuild. But no work has begun on some of these properties and many of these tarps are now shredded and useless, flapping in the Gulf of Mexico breezes.

On other properties, the debris has been removed, leaving just blank concrete slabs. Other buildings lay in ruins, looking just the way they did when we saw news footage of them on the days immediately after the storm.

Hurricane Michael coming ashore at Mexico Beach, Florida last year.

Part of the reason might be this: As of July, 15% of Michael-related insurance claims were still unresolved, according to the Associated Press. 

Vast pine forests just inland from Mexico Beach still lie in twisted ruins, with a little greenery popping up in what is left of the understory.

Back in Mexico Beach, resilient palm trees look like they've made a nice comeback, but otherwise there's still scarcely any green trees left. 

The white sandy beach in the town looks inviting, but few beachfront buildings have been repaired. Some ostructures are undergoing reconstruction, but not all that many. The only fully restored and open business I saw in the video is a Dollar General.

There's still  few people around, too. It looks might many have abandoned Mexico Beach. There are plenty of forlorn "For Sale" signs on ruined or blank properties, with no takers.

Here's the video: