Hurricane Michael: Memphians stay, ride out storm in Florida
Trish Cheak was looking at a “picture postcard” day last Thursday in Seaside Beach, Florida, where she, her daughter and a friend were vacationing for fall break.
But on Wednesday they had sat inside a shuttered house, taking cover as Hurricane Michael approached shore. They were 10 miles away from the eye as the storm swept through the Florida Panhandle.
Cheak had been in hurricanes before — although now she calls Memphis home, she grew up in South Carolina.
As Michael approached, she made the decision to stay.
“We were looking at it being a Category 3 when it approached shore,” she said. “Places were running out of gas.”
She said there are only two ways out of the area and not many lanes. Past experience told her the best decision was to stay in place.
While Cheak has been through several hurricanes, she said this one was “unique” as the eye did not collapse when it approached land and stayed intact through parts of Georgia.
“It tried your patience,” she said. “It was the slowest hurricane I’ve ever seen (approach land). We were ready to have it on land so it could start collapsing.”
She said as Michael came ashore they could hear the wind and see the rain moving sideways. As the eye approached, it took out many tree limbs.
“You could see the fury of it,” Cheak said.
Her daughter and the friend they had brought along had never experienced a hurricane, but were amazed at how quickly it calmed down. They were able to watch the sunset from the beach Wednesday evening.
Despite flooding in the area, Cheak said they are safe and will be able to return home this weekend. They did not lose power, but houses within walking distance did.
The biggest challenge for the group has been finding open places to eat, as restaurants have limited staff and menus.
For now, Cheak aims to enjoy the rest of her trip.
“While it’s terrible, it could have been worse with the type of storm it was,” she said. “We’re extremely blessed the whole area was not more damaged than it was.”
The storm was the third-strongest in recorded history to hit the United States mainland, as measured by barometric pressure, after making landfall Wednesday as a Category 4. USA TODAY contributed to this story.