Hardy Floridians braced for ‘real ugly’ weather
People in the crosshairs of Hurricane Michael made lastminute preparations before leaving or hunkering down in hotels, homes and shelters. Here are snapshots of how they prepared for the monstrous storm and were coping after it blew ashore in Florida and headed inland.
Hours before landfall, rain and wind buffeted Keaton Beach early yesterday as Tom Moenich drove the streets in his pickup looking for neighbors needing help. His cellphone rang constantly as friends who evacuated pressed him for updates.
“It’s going to be real ugly,” he said.
Moenich planned to ride out the storm at his home, which sits on higher ground. He had extra gas for his generator but the potential for high storm surge spooked him. “I’m worried,” he said. As winds toppled trees in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, one landed directly on the chimney of Joe Marino.
“It was like an earthquake. The bookshelf shook and a frame fell down. It was weird. We went outside, and you could smell the pine, and there it was: laying on the chimney.”
Marino, who works for a veterans organization and lives with his girlfriend and her elderly grandmother, said water started dripping through the chimney, and they feared wind would blow the tree from its perch and send it crashing through the roof. They planned to stay on the first floor. “Upstairs is a no-go zone.” In the Panama City area, not far from landfall, Diane Farris, 57, and her 23-year-old son Waine Hall walked to the shelter nearest their home, Rutherford High School, early yesterday. There they found about 1,100 people crammed into a space meant for half as many.
“The cafeteria, gym, all those are full. They’re putting people in the hallways and rooms .... There will be more space hopefully, because there are more people coming every minute,” said Farris, who was experiencing his first hurricane.
Farris was desperate to know where other relatives had wound up. Neither she nor her son had a way to communicate because their lone cellphone got wet on the way to the shelter and quit working.
“I’m worried about my daughter and grandbaby. I don’t know where they are. You know, that’s hard,” she said, choking back tears.