MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — Search-and-rescue crews continued to fan out through the rubble of this city Sunday, looking for the dozens of people still unaccounted for after one of the worst storms to ever hit the U.S.
This seaside city of about 1,200 people in the Florida Panhandle was ground zero for Hurricane Michael, which struck the coast Wednesday with 155-mph winds and a powerful ocean surge. Few structures appeared to survive without damage, and many were destroyed, scoured down by wind and water to slabs.
At midday Sunday, an estimated 79 people were unaccounted for in Mexico Beach, said Capt. Iggy Carroll, public information officer for Florida Task Force Two, a search-and-rescue team from South Florida that has probed debris in Mexico Beach since Thursday. He cautioned the number is fluid and was changing as various authorities locate people.
The hurricane was responsible for at least 18 deaths in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, and the toll is likely to climb, federal officials said Sunday. So far Mexico Beach has one confirmed fatality, said Police Chief Anthony Kelly. More than 1,460 searchers and support staff were on the ground in the panhandle, concentrated in the five most-affected counties, FEMA said.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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