(1) #HW #PhotoThread 1 on #HurricaneMichael. Just a small fraction of the available photos so far. Drone footage on Day 2 is showing incredible before & after photos of the destroyed beach towns. Please help those affected as much as you can. And #AlwaysBePrepping. Mexico Beach: 
(2) Not everyone affected was a wealthy Florida panhandle retiree. Don't assume they all made poor decisions. This monster hurricane will take a long time to recover from, and there could be another one this bad this season or next year. People need to pull together.
(3) Not all my hurricane photos are depressing. I smiled about this little family in a shelter the night before landfall. I miss being capable of sleeping in this position on a floor in a fully lit room. Disaster survivors have moments of fun & love among the challenges.
(4) This Tallahassee pupper in a high school shelter on the eve of the storm is #ready. Complete with bowtie and animal print outfit.
(5) Concerned, but safe and ready for the coming storm. I think they were being checked in to the shelter and had blankets placed over the cages later. Most locals knew what to do ahead of the storm. Hopefully those who chose to stay have learned for next time.
(6) Taking shelter ahead of the storm. God bless them all.
(8) Mexico Beach, one of the towns with concrete pads surrounded by sand, where homes and gardens used to exist. They were blown away and spread all over as debris.
(9) Port St. Joe.
(10) Tallahassee during the storm. That light in the distance is an electrical transformer exploding.
(11) The next series of photos are from Panama City & Beach (I may have made an error with some though). This is a lamppost snapped off by the 100+ mph winds.
(12) It's not a good idea to ride out a major (Cat 3 or higher) hurricane in a tall building, because the wind speed increases with height. The 2nd or 3rd floor is probably OK, since it gets you above storm surge or inland flooding, but still.
(13) That's the underside of a train, after the hurricane blew it over.
(14) Mobile homes tend to get destroyed even in Cat 1-2 storms. If I could invent an affordable and effective exoskeleton for them, I'd make a fortune.
(15) A once in a lifetime storm, that we can only hope isn't repeated in the next few years.
(16) An uprooted tree with paving stones and materials around it. I love trees but owners in these high risk areas need to assess each one and reduce its height, to save lives and costly recovery time.
(17) I found this photo a striking example of what flying debris can do. Chilling, isn't it?
(18) Strangely, I think this kind of roof is better than solid panels, because the smaller hole releases pressure, saving the rest of the roof. Once you lose the roof, the walls lose a lot of their structural support & can come down.
Palm trees can bend a lot, until they snap.
Palm trees can bend a lot, until they snap.
(19) This reminds me of the damage from Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean. FL did get up to 7 days' warning of Michael, bc the area of low pressure was seen on 10/3/18. I saw another one starting 2 days ago but hopefully it goes West (staying weak) iso North over warm water.
(20) The next set of photos makes the preceding ones look like minor damage. I actually find them so upsetting that I'm just going to paste the link here instead of preparing the photos for this thread. Easier way for you to view them too. Take kleenex.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6…
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6…
(21) Day 3 of #HurricaneMichael and its aftermath. The death toll is now 13 but many coastal areas in the FL panhandle still have to be searched for missing people, so I expect the number to rise as bodies are found. FEMA is co-ordinating airdrops of food & water where needed.
(22) Incredible scenes of devastation in Mexico Beach, Panama City, and Panama City Beach, FL.
