Panama City Beach assessing âcatastrophicâ storm damage: 5 injured, 100 displaced, house left tilted
A day after a series of storms spawned tornadoes in the area that devastated portions of Panama City Beach, officials began to assess the damage, comparing some the damage in some areas to Hurricane Michael, which hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018.
Bay County (Fla.) spokesperson Valerie Sale told the Panama City News Herald that five people were seriously injured and about 100 households displaced during the storm, with numerous properties either heavily damaged or destroyed outright.
“The devastation, even though it is limited to a much smaller area than Michael, is very reminiscent of what (it) looked like,” Sale told the newspaper. “Right now, we’re working out the details for debris collection. … It’s going to be another undertaking, just like Michael was.”
In the hardest-hit areas, officials have put in a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in the hopes of eliminating the possibility of looting.
Although appearing largely intact, a photo of a heavily damaged beach house on Gulf Drive which was moved off its foundation and leaning against a neighboring house was drawing attention on social media.
The three-story house is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom home and was reported as vacant by the News Herald, with an appraised value from the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office of just over $1 million.