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After Michael crossed the Florida Panhandle last week, April Hand spent the Saturday looking for possible property damage at the home of the aunt and her fiance's uncle. They were browsing updated satellite images of the property on the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when they saw something that was blocking them – the word "HELP" , in capital letters on the property outside the city of Panama.
Amber Gee is the sister of Hand's fiancé. She was evacuated at Hand's home in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and saw the "HELP" sign first. She then showed him to a stunned hand.
"I was worried," Hand told CNN, explaining that they were unaware whether her uncles Ernie and Susan Gee, from Gee, and an elderly neighbor who was accompanying them had been evacuated or allowed to leave. they had decided to cross the storm. Nobody could reach them. So, if all three were still on the property, the "HELP" sign, assembled with logs, was most definitely a call for help
Hand immediately called the Bay County Emergency Department, which sent deputy ministers to rescue them. It took some time for MPs to get to the property as the road leading to the house was blocked by fallen trees. But eventually, they cleared a path and reached the Gees and the elderly neighbor early Sunday morning.
Bay County cited this other example of how the people of the area were coming together after such a storm.
Hand says that the Gees and the neighbor are doing well.
"Yes, they're fine, my fiance and I took about $ 500 worth of supplies like water, food, flashlights, batteries, and donated," he said. she declared. "They are safe and are still on the property, but they have food and water, and my fiance is planning to come back later in the week to monitor everyone."
Hand, who works as a paralegal in a law firm in Pensacola, was born in Panama and lived in the area all his life. She has experienced several hurricanes and has said that people are used to wind, rain, and some felled trees that come from such storms. But Hurricane Michael was different.
"It was like a bomb that exploded in Panama City," she said. "No one was prepared for that."
The website that led to a rescue
The photos are taken by planes equipped with cameras that take pictures less than one kilometer above the devastation. The resulting images are used to identify the hardest hit areas and also help the authorities determine where help is to be provided.
"The main purpose of these images is to support emergency response efforts," NOAA spokeswoman CNN Keeley Belva told CNN. "Its wider availability allows people to check their property from afar and stay safe from danger."
The images are very clear, allowing people to see not only whether their house is still there, but also if the roof has been damaged.
CNN's Paul P. Murphy contributed to this report.
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