Rural areas also felt the strength of the storm

But Michael 's fury is not limited to the place where salt water falls on sandy beaches. Far away from the coast, in the rolling hills where Florida gives way to Georgia and Alabama, the small country towns have also been devastated by the most powerful storm in the region since the beginning of the war. keeping records at the time of the civil war.

And when the winds passed, the peasants started to do what they do: they rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

Nathan Hooppell and his brother, Nick, huddled with their parents in their homeland in Marianna, Florida, when Michael's core hovered over Jackson County with winds estimated at 140mph .

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"It was as if everyone was saying it, as if a bomb had exploded," said Nathan Hooppell. "The sky was a sickly yellow gray. We are a wooded community and the treetops of the trees are gone. "

"It was pretty terrifying," Nick Hooppell said. "We were down. We were crying. I mean, no one was prepared for that. We stood in the room. We prayed Every time you wanted it to stop, it hit harder and harder, louder and louder.

Jackson County was in ruins Friday, two days after Michael landed in Mexico Beach, about an hour south of Marianna.

TO CLOSE

Watch the effects of Hurricane Michael on these tall trees when the Category 4 storm hits Panama City Beach, Florida, on October 10, 2018. Rick Neale's video, FLORIDA TODAY & # 39; HUI
Rick Neale, Florida today

The hurricane has cut down countless trees and power lines, ripped brick facades and roofs of buildings and rendered much of the road network impassable. There was power throughout the county and emergency officials announced that it may take a month before the lights come back on. The water system broke down after a power outage and shutdown of the pumps.

Caleb Hoffman and his family had a rough introduction to the harsh climate of the Sunshine State.

Hoffman, his wife Kaytlnn Auxt; Gabby girls, 2; Julie, 3 months; and his one – year – old son, Dominic, left Liverpool, Pennsylvania, in March, to settle in Blountstown – about 50 km north of Mexico Beach – in March, so he 's in. to improve the living conditions of their children.

Michael tore off the roof of their three-bedroom house and bathroom just north of Blountstown, a small town left as a land devastated by the wind of the storm.

They took refuge at Blountstown High School, whose roof was also torn down. Without family or friends, they are alone. Hoffman said returning home in ruins was almost unbearable.

The small town was cut off from any contact with the outside world until Thursday night when Liberty County emergency management officials were able to connect with state officials with a HAM radio .

"I do not know any house without damage," said Rhonda Lewis, director of the Liberty Emergency Operations Center.

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Sheriff Glenn Kimbrel said that there was not a single road unaffected by felled trees.

"I would equate this to a hurricane with an F5 tornado estimate, but it lasted about 3 hours. Catastrophic, "said Kimbrel. "Wherever you travel in this county, it seems like a bomb has exploded in, under, in, name you, in that county."

On Friday in Quincy, a national guard signaled desperate city dwellers to find food and water.

Jim Bob oversees the damage caused by Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, on Thursday, October 11, 2018. The hurricane hit the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday October 10, 2018, causing significant damage in Category 4 . (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

They invaded the grounds of Gadsden County Prison, one of six distribution sites that exploded throughout the county two days after Michael ravaged the Big Bend. Four deaths in the county were attributed to the storm.

With rifles slung over the shoulders, uniformed soldiers shouted the order to quickly mix the food. Volunteers meet with deputy ministers and Red Cross officials. They all carried packets of water, tarpaulins and ready-to-eat meals that usually feed troops deployed on difficult terrain.

Sarah Figgers waited in the car for her supplies. She was heading to the Shaw Quarter, where she had been raised.

She could barely recognize the neighborhood. Three trees blocked the entrance and exit of some streets. Residents were trapped unless they went out.

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"The trees are huge," said Figgers. "I've never seen it so bad where almost every street, every house seems to have trees at the back and in the yard, trees on houses and trees everywhere."

On Friday, the people of Panhandle were working hard to restore a semblance of normalcy in their small, closely knit communities.

In Marianna, people using chainsaws and Bobcats spent Friday helping their neighbors pull out their debris. Rocky Weaver, a home builder, three sons, and several friends from South Florida went to Chipola College, clearing roads and delivering water.

"You look around and there are trees and roofs all around us," Weaver said. "I went down to Homestead after Hurricane Andrew and that sounds a lot like what Andrew did."

"We are accomplishing great feats to get the county up and running," said Mark Foreman, chief of the Jackson County Fire and Rescue Department. "That will take time. But we work 24/7. So everyone needs to know that help is coming. "