Bodies found after hurricane wipes out town

MEXICO BEACH, FLA. — Searchand-rescue teams began finding bodies in and around Mexico Beach, the ground-zero town nearly obliterated by hurricane Michael.

Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, leader of a search-andrescue unit, said: “There are individuals who are deceased. We do not have a count, but we are working to identify them.”

The death toll across the South stood at 13, not counting any victims in Mexico Beach.

Zahralban spoke as his team — which included a dog — was winding down its two-day search of Mexico Beach, the town of about 1,000 people that was nearly wiped off the map when Michael blew ashore there Wednesday with 250 km/h winds.

Blocks and blocks of homes were demolished, reduced to splintered lumber or mere concrete slabs by the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental U.S. in nearly 50 years.

As the catastrophic damage across the Florida Panhandle came into view, there was little doubt the death toll would rise.

State officials said that by one count, 285 people in Mexico Beach defied mandatory evacuation orders and stayed behind.

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long

worried that people have suffered “hurricane amnesia.”

“When state and local officials tell you to get out, dang it, do it. Get out,” he said.