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(MEXICO BEACH, Florida) – More than a week after Hurricane Michael passed through the Florida Panhandle, authorities report three more deaths in the Category 4 storm while returning residents they try to reconstruct their lives from the rubble left by winds and storms. Michael hit the Panhandle in Florida on October 10 with winds of 155 km / h (250 km / h), detained hurricane winds as far back as Interior of southern Georgia and also affected the Carolinas and Virginia. Six deaths have been reported in Virginia, mainly as a result of flash floods. North Carolina had three deaths and Georgia one. The death toll for Florida is 17 on Thursday, said Emergency Management Division spokesman Alberto Moscoso. The official figure included an additional death in Liberty County, and others confirmed to be related to the storm by district medical examiners, including 12 from Bay County's most affected, but three more deaths were also reported confirmed as related to the storm 15 dead, according to Whit Majors, chief investigator of the District Medical Examiner's Office. Majors said these deaths were reported to emergency management officials. We did not know right away why they were not added to the global count yet.
Throughout the region, stunned residents continued to pick up coins on Thursday, as many of them remained without electricity.
In Mexico Beach, devastated by the storm, residents were allowed to return home for the first time Wednesday, finding bits of their lives scattered on the sand and a modified community.
Nancy Register sobbed uncontrollably after finding no trace of the big camper she lived with her husband. She was particularly upset by the loss of an old black and white photo of her mother, who died of cancer.
Her husband, Taylor Register, has stated that he found that a stool that he uses to cut his hair, a pipe and a memorial stone that a friend gave him there is 40 years.
"These are my things," he said pointing to a small pile next to his red pickup truck. Stifling, he said, "I appreciate that God has humiliated me. Everyone needs it.
Just at the end of the road, tears ran down Lanie Eden's face as she and her husband, Ron Eden, searched for items they had left before evacuating from the small beach house they rented. the months of October. They did not find much – just a large package of toilet paper that stayed dry and a camp chair for sons.
The Edens, who come from Fort Knox, Kentucky, and stay temporarily in Alabama, were stunned to see mountains of debris and countless buildings destroyed while on their way to town for the first time. In a state of condominium towers, Mexico Beach was one of the few places where small houses and an atmosphere of the 1950s remained.
"Basically, we lost old Florida. Everything is gone, "said Lanie Eden.
Residents of the community of about 1,200 people who survived the storm at home have been in Mexico Beach since Michael's beating. However, officials used the city's Facebook page to ask others to stay away for a week after the Category 4 storm ravaged the seaside town with winds and a strong storm.
Meanwhile, in many areas devastated by the hurricane, law enforcement officials are battling the looting of homes and businesses.
Major Jimmy Stanford, Bay County Sheriff, said MPs had arrested about 10 looters each night since the storm hit. In some parts of the county, locals have spray-painted placards stating that "looters will be shot down."
Wes Allen, a resident of Panama City, said looters were a constant problem in the severely damaged motel where he resides with his wife and three children. Residents formed a night patrol to monitor thieves.
"We have looters who steal and steal everything they can," he said. Allen said he did not report the robberies to the police because the authorities seemed to be busy with something else.
Looters have often been armed, Stanford said.
"Most of our officers have lost their homes, work between 16 and 18 hours without sleep or shower, and they now meet armed individuals," he said. "It's a stressful time for everyone in Bay County."
In Mexico Beach, which was a city of about 1,200 people, people do not expect to have energy or anything else.
Carlton Hundley, 25, went back home that he rented with his girlfriend Connie Huff to find only a long pile of broken wood. The few goods they found, including one of his shoes, were scattered on the floor.
"I knew it was bad, I had already seen the pictures. But it's a lot more than I thought, "he said.
Roxie Cline, 65, was moved as she tried to describe the destruction in Mexico Beach, where she and her husband had been living for three years.
"I can not, I can not," she said, tearing herself apart. "It's devastating. You lose everything. Everybody has."
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Associated Press editors Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida, and Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.
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To learn more about Hurricane Michael, visit https://www.apnews.com/tag/Hurricanes.
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