BUILDING STRENGTH AFTER HURRICANE MICHAEL: City of Callaway

BY BRITTANY HAWES AND VAL SCHOGER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAROLD BRAMTON

The City of Callaway, 20 miles to the west of Hurricane Michael’s ground zero, has approximately 15,000 residents. Aerial images show a sea of blue-tarped roofs in Callway. City Hall was damaged severely and will be demolished. “We were hit hard,” residents say. While most of city staff have lost their homes, many showed up to work and helped with the recovery efforts a few days after the storm had made landfall. With water supply and all basic utilities restored to most households as of November 15, debris removal has been ongoing for weeks, with trees and debris still littering the sides of the streets.

“FEMA will fund the cleanup and we follow FEMA’s rules, so it takes time,” Mayor Pamn Henderson explains. “Plus, it gives people time because, you know, people weren’t ready the day after the storm. We have to get the debris all up to the right of way. For FEMA funding, we have to go through a process and it takes time.” While power has been restored to the households that can take power, most streets lights are still defunct and the City of Callaway is working with Gulf Power company to have street lighting restored. Phone and Internet services are still unavailable for most residents.

Mayor Henderson has called Callaway home for 45 years. While the mayor’s house sustained roof damage, it is still livable. The same cannot be said for her sister’s house. “Her entire roof came up.” Henderson shakes her head, clearly relieved that it was not worse. “Everything was wet. I was helping her recover as much of her belongings as we could and bring everything to my house.” She explains that her sister lived in the house their parents bought 45 years ago.

With the losses she and her family have been facing, the kindness of fellow citizens and volunteers is offering comfort. She has seen the bravery of strangers firsthand. “Two gentlemen in my neighborhood were real heroes. The day of the storm they got my sister out of her house. They saw that her roof was gone and knew that she was in the house. They went over while the storm was still raging and got her and four cats out and got them down to my house. Then they went around checking from house to house to house and there were several houses on the street that were demolished in the storm with their residents inside.”

One of the gentlemen, she explains opened his home that was lightly damaged, sheltering people that night because their houses weren’t livable. “We have people that have gone above and beyond; in a lot of cases it was neighbors … the person who took all these people in, he’s only lived in this neighborhood maybe six months, so it’s not even that he knows people well. He’s just that type of individual. He and another neighbor got people out of their homes and made sure
they were safe and he took them in.”

In her duties, Mayor Henderson has been doing her best to support all ongoing procedures. “I have all confidence in our city manager, Eddie Cook. He heads up operations. When we lost our city hall he immediately got our headquarters set up, making sure that our public safety building was in good shape to handle the influx of volunteers, police, and firefighters that came to help.”

While the circumstances are still bleak for many of her residents, the mayor knows that the best solution is to work through things as thoroughly as possible. “You don’t want to just sit and say, ‘What am I going to do?’ You ‘ve just got to pull yourself up and get out there and do what you have to. Find living accommodations for yourself. The majority of people seem to be doing that. That’s where I’m really proud of my city, the way that people are responding.”

One of the good things that came from the catastrophic events is the community pulling together, she says. “You see people doing kind things. I have neighbors I have lived next to for a couple of years. You never really talk to them. You say hello when you see them and that’s it. But through this, everybody’s talking, everybody is helping each other. We’ve really formed a lot of friendships through this. We’re all in the same boat here.”

During the first days after the storm, volunteers and helpers did everything they could. “There were people just driving up and down the street. Several of them were just individuals, not even part of church groups or any other organizations. “There was a couple from Destin, they were just driving in their SUV up and down the street. They would see people working and they would give them water, bags of snacks, and just try to be helpful. It’s really heartwarming when you see somebody doing something like that. There was an airman from over in Niceville who was driving around giving people cold water and Gatorade, just to make sure that people were staying hydrated. People who try to help, whatever little bit they can do, it is so appreciated.”

She looks towards the future with confidence and knows that the city will rise above the destruction. “Oh! We’re going to rebuild … It’s going to be better than it was before. I truly believe that we’re going to improve the quality of life for citizens and we’re going to get through all of this. It’s going to be a long recovery process. You know, you can’t undo all the damage overnight, but we’re going to get it cleaned up. It’s sad to see that some of the older businesses are destroyed but, you know, we’re getting through and it’s going to be okay. We’re going to need help for a while, I’m afraid. I hope that people don’t forget us and move on to something else because it’s going to be a long time for this entire area, to get back to something normal.”