Hurricane Michael impact on Florida Panhandle News

Florida Mayor, City Attorney Charged in $5M Hurricane Michael Fraud Scheme

The mayor and city attorney of a Florida Panhandle city are the latest to be charged in the theft of $5 million in Hurricane Michael debris removal funds, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and City Attorney Adam …

Florida Panhandle Facing Uphill Battle in Recovery One Year after Michael

A year after Hurricane Michael, the Florida county hardest hit by the Category 5 storm is still in crisis: Thousands in Bay County are homeless, medical care and housing are at a premium, domestic violence has become a problem and …

Hurricane Michael: One Year Later, Federal Aid for Recovery Totals Nearly $2B

Since Hurricane Michael made landfall Oct. 10, 2018, federal assistance for recovery in the 18 affected counties is nearly $1.9 billion, including FEMA grants, National Flood Insurance Program payments and U.S. Small Business Administration loans, according to a statement from …

FCC: Wireless Carriers Were Ill-Prepared for Hurricane Michael Outages

A Federal Communications Commission report says wireless carriers’ poor preparation and coordination lengthened communication outages in the Florida Panhandle after Hurricane Michael. The Panama City News Herald reports that the FCC report made several recommendations for improvement in the future, …

Florida Regulator Calls on Insurers to Handle Hurricane Michael Claims

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier is urging Florida insurers to close the more than 42,000 Hurricane Michael claims that remain open nearly three months after the storm. In a Dec. 19 memorandum to all property and casualty insurers authorized to …

Florida CFO: Insurers Must Step Up Response to Hurricane Michael Claims

Citing a “troubling” number of Hurricane Michael-related consumer complaints and claims denials, Florida’s top financial regulator is urging insurers to respond more quickly and adequately to consumers recovering from the major storm that devastated the Florida Panhandle in October. Florida …

Florida County Hit Hard by Michael Takes Out $50M Bond for Recovery

A county on Florida’s Panhandle has voted to take out a $50 million bond to help recover from Hurricane Michael. The News-Herald reports that Bay County Commission voted Nov. 20 to use the money to cover debris removal, stormwater system …

Florida Picks Up the Pieces from Powerful Hurricane Michael

It has been just over a month since Hurricane Michael slammed the Florida Panhandle as a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds reaching just shy of Category 5 status. The devastation from the storm that killed at least 35 people …

Florida Residents Hit by Michael Return to Face Damage as Death Toll Climbs

More than a week after Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle, authorities are reporting three more deaths from the Category 4 storm as residents returning to their homes try to piece together their lives from the rubble left by …

Michael Leaves Path Of Destruction Through Florida Panhandle

Hurricane Michael’s assault on the Florida Panhandle left nothing more than empty foundations and heaps of rubble in some parts of the small towns it crashed into with near-record force. Communications outages and roads blocked by downed trees, strewn power …