As residents and visitors in Florida hunkered down in preparation of Hurricane Michael, first responders all over the South were gearing up to serve in the height and aftermath of the storm.
The evening before Michael made landfall on the Florida Panhandle, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in Tallahassee posted a photo of deputies getting ready for the overnight shift.
The team paused “for a moment of prayer, before weathering the storm,” the caption read.
https://www.facebook.com/leonflso/photos/a.1081700501840537/2132032690140641/?type=3&theater
No one could have predicted the ferocity of the storm, which was still a tropical depression on Sunday afternoon but strengthened to a near-Category 5 hurricane right before slamming into the Florida coastline with 155 mph winds early Wednesday afternoon.
https://www.facebook.com/leonflso/posts/2133529856657591?__tn__=-R
The hurricane left a path of destruction in its wake, especially in Mexico Beach, Florida, where homes were completely taken off its foundations by the storm surge or transformed into a pile of debris by the devastating winds.
Damage now from the back side of our condo building in Mexico Beach. #Michael pic.twitter.com/BVAJfPFwkZ
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) October 10, 2018
Florida Gov. Rick Scott described the storm as “the worst storm” to ever hit the Florida Panhandle.
Michael then brought severe weather to Georgia and the Carolinas, where dangerous conditions will continue through Thursday.
At least one person has died as a result of the hurricane, according to local officials in Florida. More fatalities are expected.
And even though the storm has passed, Floridians have a long road of recovery and rebuilding ahead of them.
(H/T: KJRH)