Jay Reeves and Brendan Farrington Associated Press Published 10:45 AM EDT Oct 11, 2018 Panama City, Fla. – Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the Florida Panhandle to reach trapped people in Michael’s wake Thursday after the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental U.S. carved a path of destruction across the Southeast. At least two deaths were blamed on Michael, and it wasn’t done yet: Though weakened into a tropical storm, it continued to bring heavy rain and blustery winds to the South as it pushed inland, soaking areas still recovering from last month’s Hurricane Florence. Under a perfectly clear blue sky, Florida families emerged tentatively from darkened shelters and hotels to an unfamiliar and perilous landscape of shattered homes and shopping centers, beeping security alarms, wailing sirens and hovering helicopters. Over 900,000 homes and businesses in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas were without power. One of the hardest-hit spots was Mexico Beach, where Michael crashed ashore Wednesday as a Category 4 monster with 155 mph winds. Video from a CNN helicopter Thursday revealed widespread devastation across the town of about 1,000 people. Entire blocks of homes near the beach were washed away, leaving nothing but concrete slabs in the sand. Rows and rows of other homes were reduced to piles of debris or crumpled and slumped at odd angles. Scott said the National Guard got into Mexico Beach and rescued 20 people who survived the direct hit. The town was under a mandatory evacuation order as… [Read full story]
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