Among the ruins of Mexico's beach is a house built "for the grown-ups"

Above 36th Street, north of American Highway 98, the main street, several small houses had survived the wind, but they had been ravaged by the water, even though they were several blocks away. the beach. John Hamilton spent the afternoon of a weekend shoveling out of the dark land owned by his sister-in-law, Sandra Richards, and her husband, Jeff Richards, who live in Eufaula, Alabama but have been vacationing in Mexico Beach for decades.

The paper towels in the highest kitchen cabinets were soaked. The ceiling fans, more than eight feet high, were covered with mud.

"I can not believe I'm not just crying my eyes," Ms. Richards said as her sister, Laura Hamilton, used a broken piece of door to make a dustpan. "It's incomprehensible."

Mr. Richards noted that the couple had built the house with anti-hurricane windows in 2004, after the coming into force of the new national code. "Look at the windows: they are all here," he says. "If the doors had held, we probably would have been fine."

"All Mexico Beach homes built in the 1970s have disappeared," said Ms. Richards.

Mr. Lackey explained that the charm of this small town came largely from its old homes and its relative overdevelopment, compared to major tourist destinations located further west along the coast. During July 4th, celebrated by a fireworks display on the pier in Mexico Beach, Mr. Lackey's 5 year-old son, Keaton, learned to snorkel on the beach. front of the house.

"There was a subway – it was the only franchise restaurant in town," he said. "There were no traffic lights. It has been nicknamed "Mayberry by the Sea".