Louisiana First Responders Helping Florida Hurricane Victims Find Shelter
Louisiana's delegation of first responders are just east of Panama City, Florida, where the eyewall of Hurricane Michael came ashore, bringing untold amounts of devastation. State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says they spent much of Thursday getting hurricane victims out of their storm ravaged homes and into shelter.
"We've brought hundreds of people to safe areas that just need to get out of the weather to get into sheltering and giving them provisions that they need," said Browning.
Louisiana's team of first responders are among the 500 emergency officials in Mexico City Beach, Florida, one of the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Michael. Browning says the damage reminds him of Hurricane Katrina.
"A lot of building damage, commercial buildings, malls, schools, a lot of public establishments," said Browning.
Browning says Mexico city Beach took on almost 14 feet of storm surge and they still are not done searching all of the damaged structures.
"There are no utilities here, there's no water or sewer that does complicate relief and recovery efforts," said Browning.
Michael was nearly a category five when it made landfall and the storm is blamed for at least 11 deaths.