Harrowing tales of survival from town ravaged by storm

MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Residents of Mexico Beach that stayed during the storm are emerging from the debris with harrowing tales. Others, who evacuated, are coming to grips with the fact that much of their community was destroyed by Hurricane Michael.

Hit head-on by the storm, numerous homes in this Gulf Coast resort town of about 1,190 people were shattered or ripped from their foundations.

Mexico Beach is on the west end of what is sometimes called Florida’s Forgotten Coast, so named because it is not heavily developed like many of the state’s other shoreline areas.

On Thursday, Mexico Beach resident Bob Tenbrunesel rode around town in the back of a pickup truck, surveying the damage. It was upsetting to see all of the places that he loved destroyed.

He said, “This place will never be the same.”