UNSPEAKABLE LOSS: Hurricane Michael
BY BRITTANY HAWES AND VAL SCHOGER PHOTOGRAPHY:COURTESY OF GULF COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
Chipley, a city in Washington County with a population of approximately 3,600 people, is located 50 miles north of Panama City and the Gulf of Mexico. No one predicted that severe winds would reach this far inland. Rural areas were severely impacted by unprecedented hurricane-force winds.
Mayor Tracy Andrews, a career woman who became Chipley’s mayor in the October 16 elections after serving as city councilwoman for one year, confirms that the City of Chipley is fully operating in terms of water, sewage, and gas, with Gulf Power Company reporting that 95% of their customers who can accept electricity service have been restored.
The city became the scene of the tragic deaths of three linemen. When reports of a hit-and-run driver killing three linemen emerged on October 25, Northwest Florida was in shock. The men were identified by State Troopers as George Cecil, 52, of Colerain, North Carolina, and James Ussery, 60, of Chipley, Florida. Ryan Barrett, 22, the third victim, from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, died of his injuries a day after the incident at a Dothan hospital. Cecil and Barrett were employees of Lee Electric in North Carolina, coming to Northwest Florida to help restore the power grid in record-time, and Ussery was an employee of West Florida Electric.
Mayor Andrews calls the lost lives of linemen doing their job to help restore electrical power to the citizens of the community most devastating.
Previously, on October 11, a lineman had died in Georgia. He was an employee of Utilicon Services, Inc., of Davisboro, GA, assisting in the restoration of electrical power to homes in Baldwin County, GA, under contract with Georgia Power Company in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, which had been downgraded to a tropical storm when it reached the state.
In Gulf County, Florida, a firefighter died as a result of recovery work. He was identified as 49-year old Brad Price. He lived in Wewahitchka, a small town about 20 miles north of Mexico Beach. A tree fell on the tractor he used for helping his family clear debris, according to the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office. Reportedly, Price’s death raised Florida’s death toll after Hurricane Michael to 25 and the multi-state total to 35.
The direct and indirect impact from the storm are devastating and prolonged. Most tragically, in Donalsonville, Georgia, an 11-year old girl, Sarah Radney was killed. She and her brother Gavin, 12, were spending fall break at their grandparents’ home, a lakefront modular home located more than 100 miles away from the coast. The family had gathered in the living room when high winds suddenly picked up the carport from the backyard, crashing it into the home’s roof. One of the poles came down through the ceiling, right onto Sarah and her grandmother who sat next to her. Sarah died immediately from the blow. Her grandmother suffered a punctured lung. It took first responders five hours to get to the site.
One week after the storm, Virginia officials reported six deaths. North Carolina reported three deaths. Two people were reported dead in Georgia.
At the time this article was written, officials have released all but one of the names of the victims that perished in Mexico Beach. It is believed that the final death toll in Mexico Beach is 21 and in total, 36 people died, 29 of them in Florida. We know that this information will shock many and are limiting the gruesome details. While some of the deaths were accidents, of the 286 reported people in Mexico Beach who had informed authorities that they would not evacuate during the storm, 21 paid with their lives.
We will hopefully never know the details and terrible circumstances of their final hours, but we hope the names of the victims will ring into the future. The next hurricane season is a few months away. We urge everyone who lives on the coast to give thought and find solutions now for pets, valuable belongings, medical needs, and temporary accommodations. Do not wait until the next storm is just days away.