Hurricane Michael: Search for Missing Drags On; Trump Views Storm Damage in Florida, Georgia

Trump took a helicopter tour of the battered coastline that lasted nearly an hour before touring damaged towns like Panama City and Lynn Haven from the ground. He spoke to survivors and handed out water bottles during his visit to the Panhandle and then traveled to Georgia where he met with farmers.

“The job they’ve done in Florida has been incredible,” Trump told reporters. He then turned to Gov. Rick Scott and said, “You’re a great governor.”

Scott and FEMA Administrator Brock Long saw the damage for themselves Sunday in Mexico Beach and Panama City. Long said because the devastation is so widespread, work is focused on finding survivors and sustaining life.

“FEMA is rapidly trying to meet the demands the governor puts forward when it comes to sustaining life, but in some cases, because of the (severity of the) hit, we’re still focusing on search and rescue in some of the areas like Mexico Beach to make sure we leave no stones unturned and we’re getting to anybody that may be trapped,” said Long, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

(MORE: Desperate Hurricane Michael Victims Ask, When Is Help Coming?)

At least 18 deaths have been blamed on the powerful storm – eight in Florida, three in North Carolina, one in Georgia and six in Virginia.

The widespread destruction left by the storm, which remained a hurricane as it moved into Georgia, means a lengthy recovery is ahead.

“The system is working, but it takes time when you see devastation like this, and we have to set the citizens’ expectations,” Long added. “What’s coming next is citizens are going to get frustrated.”

​​​​​​Florida

Presidential visit: Trump and his wife, Melania, visited a FEMA aid distribution center in the city of Lynn Haven. People there were signing up for temporary housing and picking up clothing, diapers, water and other supplies. Trump says someone described Hurricane Michael to him as being “like a very wide – extremely wide – tornado.” He also marveled at how massive trees were “just ripped out of the earth.” Said Trump: “This is really incredible.” The president and first lady also help distribute cases of bottled water and chatted with residents.

Water being restored to Panama City: Monday afternoon, Panama City officials announced that water service was returning to some customers, but a boil water advisory was in place. They asked residents in Bay County to conserve water however possible when service is restored.

Hoping for word: Joanne Garone Behnke is desperate for information about her 79-year-old aunt whose Mexico Beach home was destroyed. “It’s torture,” says Garone Behnke, who last talked to her Aunt Aggie Vicari right before the storm hit, begging her to leave her concrete block home. “I’ve been on the phone to reporters, to fire chiefs, to heads of a task force from Miami, to you name it, I’ve called them. I’ve called every hospital,” Garone Behnke said Monday. She then stopped to look at a text from the fire chief in Mexico Beach. To her disappointment, it read: “We’re still working on it … we’ll keep you posted.”

Dozens still missing: Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told ABC News that at least 46 people are still unaccounted for in the coastal town following the storm. In the town of more than 1,100, Cathey said 289 people did not evacuate. So far, only one death has been confirmed in Mexico Beach. Police Chief Anthony Kelly said he has warned residents that the city is not yet safe to return. “It might take a year” to rebuild, he told the New York Times. “It might take longer.”

Cell service, gas still hard to find: With some necessities still difficult to locate in some towns, the ability to charge a cellphone or refill a gas tank has prompted an emotional response from those who have waited days. “The amount of stress that people are in, not just from losing everything, but not having phones, power, food, water, puts a huge toll on the emotional factor of people stuck in these houses,” said Trevor Lewis, a search-and-rescue team member, adding he’s seen some people “cry out in joy” when he shared his phone to allow survivors to call loved ones for the first time since the storm. “And it really ups the ante a whole lot more.”

(MORE: How to Help the Victims of Hurricane Michael)

Update from Tyndall Air Force Base: 93 airmen remained at Tyndall Air Force Base to ride out the storm as the rest of the base was evacuated. They came through unharmed, Air Force officials say. Heather Wilson, secretary of the United States Air Force, visited them on Sunday, the Panama City News Herald reported. She asked the airmen if anything could be done to make their stay more comfortable. “Here are airmen who have been here riding out the storm, many haven’t had a hot shower since before the storm hit. Not a single one of them could think of anything they needed. That’s America’s Air Force,” Wilson said. The 11,000 airmen and their families who did evacuate can’t return to the damaged base. However, Gen. Dave Goldfein, the chief of staff of the Air Force, vowed, “The base is coming back.”

No help to red tide: Hurricane Michael failed to break up a patchy and toxic algae bloom that has lingered in the Gulf off Florida’s coast for the last year, experts said Monday, meaning the red tide outbreak could continue to cause problems in the weeks ahead. Hurricanes can break up algae blooms, but they also drop fresh water and increase nutrient-rich runoff from land, which can make them worse, said Robert Weisberg, a professor of physical oceanography at the University of South Florida. Michael blew red tide at the water’s surface into shore, but deep ocean currents that have been feeding the bloom since the summer also have persisted, he said. “The factors that contributed to red tide outweighed the ones that would reduce it,” Weisberg said.

Poor residents hit hardest: Many of those who rode out Michael said they did it because they had no way to evacuate. Lynn Haven resident Mary Frances Parrish said she didn’t have a working vehicle or a place to go, so she stayed in her home and endured the worst of the storm. “People are sending stuff in,” she said. “I’ve got plenty of water, I’ve got cold drinks, I’ve got plenty to eat. It may be right out of the can, but it’s plenty to eat. As long as you can have plenty to eat and drink and stay in good spirits, you’ll make it.”

Bay County schools destroyed, closed indefinitely: With widespread damage to the county’s schools, officials told CNN.com that they have no idea when 26,000 students will return to class. “I would say every single school in Bay County has some type of damage, some more extensive than others,” Steve Moss, vice chairman of Bay District School Board, told CNN.com. “Some it’ll probably take weeks or months to get online. Some it will take years. The only thing left of some of our schools … is the foundation.”

Cut off in Calhoun and Liberty counties: The storm pummeled these two inland counties. Calhoun Sheriff Kimbrel said people have been trapped in their houses since Wednesday and nearly every road is blocked by fallen trees. Phone services were cut and it’s unknown when they could be restored. Using a HAM radio, Liberty County officials finally connected with state officials until satellite communications could be set up. Liberty County Emergency Management Director Rhonda Lewis said, “We couldn’t get information to the state. The state couldn’t get information to us.” Kimbrel said, “We’re looking at 30 days 45 days out for electricity in the municipality in Blountstown. You’re looking at two or three months in the rural areas and you’re looking at two years before any semblance of full recovery.”

‘Like a bomb exploded’: “I would equate this with a hurricane and an F5 tornado rating but it lasted about three hours. Catastrophic,” Kimbrel told the Tallahassee Democrat. “Anywhere you travel in this county, it looks like a bomb exploded over, under, in, you name it, in this county.”

(MORE: The Victims of Hurricane Michael)

Two prisons damaged: Nearly 3,000 inmates have been evacuated after two prisons were damaged during Hurricane Michael. The Department of Corrections said Saturday that the inmates were evacuated from the Gulf Correctional Institution and Annex and a portion of Calhoun Correctional Institution. The facilities sustained significant roof damage, as well as damage to infrastructure critical for security. Three prisons – the Gulf institution and annex, the Gulf Forestry Camp, and Panama City Work Release Center are closed until further damage assessments are made. No inmates or staff members were injured. The agency says inmate locations will be updated on its website within 24 hours.

Update from Tyndall Air Force Base: 93 airmen remained at Tyndall Air Force Base to ride out the storm as the rest of the base was evacuated. They came through unharmed, Air Force officials say. Heather Wilson, secretary of the United States Air Force, visited them on Sunday, the Panama City News Herald reported. She asked the airmen if anything could be done to make their stay more comfortable. “Here are airmen who have been here riding out the storm, many haven’t had a hot shower since before the storm hit. Not a single one of them could think of anything they needed. That’s America’s Air Force,” Wilson said. The 11,000 airmen and their families who did evacuate can’t return to the damaged base. However, Gen. Dave Goldfein, the chief of staff of the Air Force, vowed, “The base is coming back.”

(PHOTOS: Before and After Images Show Michael’s Devastation)

Major damage inland: Much of Marianna and surrounding Jackson County suffered a huge blow from Hurricane Michael, even though they are nearly 60 miles from the coast. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the storm ripped off roofs, collapsed brick facades of buildings and felled countless trees and power lines. Electricity was out for the entire county, and the water system stopped working. Jackson County Emergency Management Director Rodney Andreasen told the Democrat that the county’s 911 system went down and cell service died when generators for cell towers ran out of fuel. Generators at Jackson Hospital also ran out of fuel, and patients had to be moved to Dothan, Alabama.

Georgia

Trump talks to farmers: Trump visited a farm near Macon where fourth-generation farmer Kevin Rentz grows cotton and peanuts. Rentz said he lost 100 percent of his cotton crop. He says they’re still digging up peanuts but the problem is finding someplace to take them, given the power outages. Another farmer, Clay Pickle, said he went from his “best crop to no crop in six hours.” Pickle says cotton was his best crop.

Agriculture devastated: The latest farm-related damage estimate in Georgia from the storm is $1.2 billion, agricultural economist Jeffrey Dorfman told CNBC. Dorfman, a professor at the University of Georgia, estimates losses of $300 million on the Georgia cotton crop as well as more than $600 million in losses to pecans. Peanuts, vegetable-growing operations and pine plantations in Georgia were also damaged. 

Decades to replace: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the damage to pecan groves will be felt for generations. Perdue says pecan trees typically bear nuts about seven years after planting but don’t become profitable for about a decade. Perdue called the situation “heartbreaking.”

Massive poultry loss: State officials told CNN.com that at least 84 chicken houses holding a total of 2 million chickens were destroyed in the storm, which is expected to lead to a catastrophic loss to the state’s $23 billion industry.

– Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.