Michael

[rebel_1]

Just toured Panama City, FL. The damage is incredible. It looks like a powerful tornado hit the entire city! It is truly an unbelievable scene! Almost every tree will likely get cut down. This storm is a very real reminder that Mother Nature can quickly put us in our place.

[Abdullah71601]

How far inland does the damage go? I used to live in Sprinfield and Lynn Haven.

[daveathall]

I know that Jeff (colemanitis) lives there, hope he is okay.

[rebel_1]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

How far inland does the damage go? I used to live in Sprinfield and Lynn Haven.

From what I saw, all of Lynn Haven was very damaged. The newer built homes are much better off than the older ones, but the trees are pretty much decimated.

[crew]

A year ago, about this exact time, I visited Naples to check on my condo in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. As many will remember, Naples and Marco Island took a direct hit from that mega hurricane. The damage was incredible, I thought at the time. Fortunately our condo escaped unharmed due in large part to our hurricane shutters. However the property damage was extensive. I have followed Andrew closely. The results of Andrew are a multitude of times worse than Irma. Entire blocks of homes and buildings were wiped out. It looks like a bomb went off. I’m not knowledgeable enough about other storms to make a comparison but Andrew was as devastating as any I can recall. Katrina may have been similar.
I hope the people,of the Panhandle get the support they need and deserve.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

How far inland does the damage go? I used to live in Sprinfield and Lynn Haven.

I'm originally from Chipley. I have damage on some property there. Tons of trees down. Places are almost unrecognizable. Marianna got hit even harder from the stuff I've seen too. A couple downtown buildings totally destroyed. It's sad to see.

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[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by crew

A year ago, about this exact time, I visited Naples to check on my condo in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. As many will remember, Naples and Marco Island took a direct hit from that mega hurricane. The damage was incredible, I thought at the time. Fortunately our condo escaped unharmed due in large part to our hurricane shutters. However the property damage was extensive. I have followed Andrew closely. The results of Andrew are a multitude of times worse than Irma. Entire blocks of homes and buildings were wiped out. It looks like a bomb went off. I’m not knowledgeable enough about other storms to make a comparison but Andrew was as devastating as any I can recall. Katrina may have been similar.
I hope the people,of the Panhandle get the support they need and deserve.

I rode out Erin, Opal, Josephine, Earl, George, and Barry. Opal was ugly. But the others were mostly rain and power outages. IIRC, Mexico Beach was hammered in Opal too.

[Rolex addict]

I was going to PCB for Ironman Florida in two weeks for Sherpa duties, but that isn't happening. When I saw the news footage of Michael coming in, I knew it was going to be really bad. There is no way it will be rebuilt well enough for spring break and that's where a lot of revenue comes in. I hope the businesses can pull through.

[77T]

Mexico Beach and PCB are heavily damaged- you may as well say Mexico Beach is a virtual town for now based on 100% of the buildings either destroyed or damaged.




Some NBC story had drone footage that gives you an idea -
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna919061


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[SDRider]

Originally Posted by crew

A year ago, about this exact time, I visited Naples to check on my condo in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. As many will remember, Naples and Marco Island took a direct hit from that mega hurricane. The damage was incredible, I thought at the time. Fortunately our condo escaped unharmed due in large part to our hurricane shutters. However the property damage was extensive. I have followed Andrew closely. The results of Andrew are a multitude of times worse than Irma. Entire blocks of homes and buildings were wiped out. It looks like a bomb went off. I’m not knowledgeable enough about other storms to make a comparison but Andrew was as devastating as any I can recall. Katrina may have been similar.
I hope the people,of the Panhandle get the support they need and deserve.

Like Puerto Rico did?

[crew]

Originally Posted by SDRider

Like Puerto Rico did?

Are you asking me specifically or just asking rhetorically?

[SDRider]

Originally Posted by crew

Are you asking me specifically or just asking rhetorically?

It's a rhetorical question.

[crew]

Originally Posted by SDRider

It's a rhetorical question.

Thanks for that clarification.
For what it’s worth, I share your frustration on PR.

[Jace]

I am from Panama City Beach (grew up on Thomas Drive). I pray for my friends still there.


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[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by SDRider

Like Puerto Rico did?

You can't drive to PR. The aid organizations already have hundreds of semi truck loads of emergency equipment set up at the old airport in Panama City. And the utility companies all drove equipment and crews down there.

Everything needs to fly in, or go on a boat to PR. Logistics are completely different, hugely more difficult and expensive, and totally daunting.

[gmh1013]

My Aunt and Uncle lived out of Gulfport MS in 1969 when hurricane Camille hit in Aug that year.....We were there in March of 1970 7 months after the storm hit. It looked like a nuclear bomb had exploded ....nothing was left. just the slabs of the houses. Their 66 Impala SS they had was never found... lucky they left 1 day before it hit and went Baton Rouge LA. I still have old Polaroid photos of the damage. Tug Boats in houses .....Crappers in the tops of trees....tankers rolled over 1/2 mile inland....and this was Several months after it hit and it looked like it had just hit 3 days ago. My uncle worked for Litton Ship Building east of where they lived and one report of wind gust over 200 mph before the naval weather station blew away. Im very worried about living on the Gulf Coast now with the killercanes being the norm now...and im 60 to 65 miles inland.

[Brenngun]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

You can't drive to PR. The aid organizations already have hundreds of semi truck loads of emergency equipment set up at the old airport in Panama City. And the utility companies all drove equipment and crews down there.

Everything needs to fly in, or go on a boat to PR. Logistics are completely different, hugely more difficult and expensive, and totally daunting.

But possible if properly prepared right?

[austinp]

Originally Posted by Brenngun

But possible if properly prepared right?

Correct. The local government in Puerto Rico should have prepared a little. Its a year round preparation. I know our Florida leadership plans all year for hurricane season. The pan handle will recover quickly because of it.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Brenngun

But possible if properly prepared right?

Everything was destroyed - ports, airfields all out of service. The local government needed to have systems in place to establish a logistics base for external support to operate. Otherwise, we’d have to “invade” the place with the military to set all that up.

You may have noticed most of those guys are in some hot wars at the moment. So, where do you get the manpower to take that on? Contractors? How much does that cost?

At some point the locality has to take ownership for self help so that others can support. There’s no evidence PR was doing much of that. And the costs for others to mobilize across an ocean to do it for them is prohibitively expensive.

[fusionstorm]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Everything was destroyed - ports, airfields all out of service. The local government needed to have systems in place to establish a logistics base for external support to operate. Otherwise, we’d have to “invade” the place with the military to set all that up.

You may have noticed most of those guys are in some hot wars at the moment. So, where do you get the manpower to take that on? Contractors? How much does that cost?

At some point the locality has to take ownership for self help so that others can support. There’s no evidence PR was doing much of that. And the costs for others to mobilize across an ocean to do it for them is prohibitively expensive.

PR was in a long recession before the hurricane hit. It certainly doesn't help that the Jones Act makes doing business of most every kind in PR more expensive....

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy...ck-debt-crisis

[Runner1975]

Let me preface my comments by saying I mean no offense to anyone here.

I've lived through quite a few hurricanes, had my property damaged, suffered through several weeks without power, etc. My job included helping prepare my region for storms and keeping citizens advised about recovery. I'm very familiar with how government works at state and local levels and have a pretty fair understanding how the federal government operates. I love my country but our response to assisting Puerto Rico is disgraceful. Yes, it's expensive and difficult to deliver resources needed. Nonetheless . . .

Michael's damage is devastating and my heart goes out to those affected.

[gmh1013]

Originally Posted by Runner1975

Let me preface my comments by saying I mean no offense to anyone here.

I've lived through quite a few hurricanes, had my property damaged, suffered through several weeks without power, etc. My job included helping prepare my region for storms and keeping citizens advised about recovery. I'm very familiar with how government works at state and local levels and have a pretty fair understanding how the federal government operates. I love my country but our response to assisting Puerto Rico is disgraceful. Yes, it's expensive and difficult to deliver resources needed. Nonetheless . . .

Michael's damage is devastating and my heart goes out to those affected.

Having been through 2 in my life was enough for me and they were not major hurricanes like the one that just hit....having to live 16 days with no power in horrible heat plus one week with no water either was more than i ever care to experience again.

[123Blueface]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Everything was destroyed - ports, airfields all out of service. The local government needed to have systems in place to establish a logistics base for external support to operate. Otherwise, we’d have to “invade” the place with the military to set all that up.

You may have noticed most of those guys are in some hot wars at the moment. So, where do you get the manpower to take that on? Contractors? How much does that cost?

At some point the locality has to take ownership for self help so that others can support. There’s no evidence PR was doing much of that. And the costs for others to mobilize across an ocean to do it for them is prohibitively expensive.

Bingo.
A dosage of reality.
Add to it an antiquated infrastructure, not updated due to corruption.
But it’s our fault.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Runner1975

Let me preface my comments by saying I mean no offense to anyone here.

I've lived through quite a few hurricanes, had my property damaged, suffered through several weeks without power, etc. My job included helping prepare my region for storms and keeping citizens advised about recovery. I'm very familiar with how government works at state and local levels and have a pretty fair understanding how the federal government operates. I love my country but our response to assisting Puerto Rico is disgraceful. Yes, it's expensive and difficult to deliver resources needed. Nonetheless . . .

Michael's damage is devastating and my heart goes out to those affected.

PR is asking congress for $139 billion, which is more than the annual disaster relief budget for the USG. That's about 20% of the defense budget and 100% of the USDA budget (food stamps included). There's only so many taxpayer dollars.

Someone is going to go hungry. Is it the poor on food stamps in US states? Is it troops in combat overseas? These are hard choices, but inevitably, politicians will follow the votes. And there are no votes in PR.

[superdog]

I have a lot of sympathy for people that live through hurricanes.

I personally lived through Irene and Sandy. My office was destroyed both times with over 5' of water. All walls, furniture, computers, plans and files....gone.

Sandy anyway, we at least put most things on the second floor. But we still lost tons of business and had to live without walls for months. We had 5 people operating out of a one person office on the second floor. No heat. My poor office manager had to schedule bathroom visits as we had no doors.

My landlord let me out of my lease after he failed to fix anything for the second time.

I should have been put out of business, both times. We were much smaller then and it cost nearly 40k both times. Zero help from the government or anyone else.

I sympathize and empathize with anyone living through these types of disasters. But it is time people took care of themselves.

Agree with Abdullah 100%.