Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Unlike Mexico Beach, Panama City and other communities in the Panhandle that were largely devastated by Hurricane Michael, Jefferson County escaped relatively unscathed, except for downed trees and power outages.
Even so, at least two local residents suffered serious damage to their structures from fallen trees.
Rikki Hill, who works in the Property Appraiser's office, was one of the two. Hill says a giant oak crashed through the roof of her house on Wednesday, destroying the master bedroom, living room and kitchen. She said the insurance company wrote the house off as a total loss after assessing the damage.
Hill and her husband were in the process of salvaging as many of their possessions as possible from the house on Monday. She said the two fortunately didn't lack for clothing, food or water.
“We're good on clothing and we have plenty of food,” Hill said.
What they could use, she said, were packing or storage boxes, preferably plastics ones, so that they could store and protect their belongings in the event of rain. She said that they could also use livestock feed for the animals.
Donations can be brought to the Property Appraiser's office at 480 Walnut Street, in Monticello.