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Hurricane Michael was the worst storm ever to hit the Florida Panhandle, which left a trail of destruction in its wake: it razed buildings, destroyed electricity and mobile phone service, and left thousands of homeless and 16 dead in Florida.
And the election day is in 21 days. How will the inhabitants of these regions be able to vote?
This is an urgent issue in the hardest hit counties 200,000 registered voters in the second congressional district of the state, represented by both Democrats and Republicans. The first day of advance voting is October 27th.
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner said in a statement that his "number one priority" was that "all registered voters, first responders and volunteers in the affected areas can cast their vote safely, without any barriers ".
Officials say they are working so that people in devastated communities can vote in the midterm elections. Here is a brief guide on how they deal with a thorny problem.
The central question: how can people vote?
That is the big question and for the moment the answer is not clear.
The first step is to establish a way for election officials to communicate with voters, which has not yet been possible in the hardest-hit areas, where blackouts and cell phones are widespread.
That includes the counties of Bay, Gulf, Franklin, Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty and Gadsden, said Paul Lux, president of the Association of Florida State Election Supervisors.
Once this has happened, local election supervisors have "enough powers to handle emergency situations," Lux said.
Most counties have not announced new voting procedures, but Gulf County, southeast of Panama City, which has 10,216 registered voters, is an example of what can be done.
He added that the constituents of the county would not be able to vote in their normal polling stations designated on polling day. Instead, they have the following options:
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They can come to the election office to fill in a ballot by mail or take one at home and return it at a later date.
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They may request that a postal ballot be emailed to them. Once they have finished, they must return it by fax with a signed voter certificate. This procedure is a concession to the storm: under normal circumstances, voters can not use ballot papers sent by email.
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They can vote in one of two "super voting centers" that the county opens on October 26 and will remain open until November 6. It will be open from 7 am to 7 pm
What was the impact of the storm on the Florida elections?
Many of the designated Gulf County polling stations were destroyed and some of those who remained upright were turned into temporary shelters for homeless people, rendering them unusable, Hanlon said.
The power cuts in the county "could last weeks or even months," he said, and many of them remained without phone service, including in his own office. (They kept access to the Internet.) Similar conditions prevail in other heavily-affected countries, Lux said.
Mr. Lux stated that most county electoral offices had been little damaged – with the exception of Bay County, a city in Panama City, where the wind had swept its roof – and that the computer and the voting machines remained intact. The real problem was almost everything else. What is the use of an electronic voting machine when there is no electricity?
"The main challenge for voters is information," he said. But it has also been difficult for officials to communicate with each other. He stated that he had not been able to contact election supervisors in all affected counties.
A call with the election supervisor in Bay County – where 120,953 registered voters reside – lasted 1 minute and 59 seconds before the call was interrupted. A second call on a burner lasted a minute and a half. He said the election workers were "almost in a communication breakdown".
"Where does a Bay County Elector call for information?", He said. "Their phones are not working, their fax machines are not working."
What do the state and the federal government do?
In addition to this, the state government appears to be in listening mode, maintaining regular communication with election supervisors in the affected counties. Mr. Lux said local election officials felt they received little help from the federal government.
"If you're wondering what the government's response was, we're wondering, too," he said.
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