After Hurricane Michael: Police Meet "Armed Individuals" and Arrest Suspected Raiders in Bay County, Florida

MPs from Bay County, Florida, who work in Hurricane Michael wreaks havoc, have arrested about 10 alleged looters every night since the storm touched down a week ago, authorities said.

Major Jimmy Stanford of the Bay County Sheriff's Office told The News Herald in an article published on Tuesday that looters had targeted businesses and homes. They are almost always armed.

"Most of our officers have lost their homes, work from 16 to 18 hours without sleep or sleep, and now they meet armed individuals," Stanford told the newspaper. "It's a stressful time for everyone in Bay County."

The county is home to Florida Mexico Beach, a small town on the Gulf Coast that was in the storm of Hurricane Michael. It is also home to Panama City and Tyndall Air Force Base, which suffered "widespread catastrophic damage" from the storm.

Victoria Call, a resident of Callaway, in the suburbs of Panama City, said her purse had been torn from her hands while she was sleeping. The door of his house was open to let a breeze through. With the breeze came burglars.

"I must have been so exhausted by everything I had not heard in recent days," she told the News Herald. "They just took my purse from my hands and ran."

"It was all we had," she added.

The photos show the police arresting people suspected of looting and a sign warning people.

Florida governor Rick Scott said this week he has examined the hurricane damage in Bay County with FEMA's director, Brock Long, "so that he can see from sight the damage and the total losses suffered by our communities of the Gulf Coast and Panhandle. " Scott said in a press release that "so many families have lost everything".

FEMA has approved the Transitional Housing Assistance for County Residents, allowing eligible storm survivors to be housed in short-term motels or hotels, with FEMA providing their costs. Eligible people are people who can not return home for a long time due to disaster damage or their inability to visit their communities, said Scott's office.

Following my request, and approval by @FEMA, the families of Bay, Franklin, Gulf, Leon, Taylor, Wakulla, Calhoun, Liberty, Jackson, Gadsden, Holmes and Washington are now entitled to individual assistance. Visit https://t.co/uiee1dSWaO

– Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) October 17, 2018