Jacob Ogles
The holiday season inspires support for those in need, and after being struck this year by a Category 4 hurricane, the Panhandle still qualifies.
Gov. Rick Scott this Thanksgiving weekend found himself sending messages of thanks to jurisdictions outside Florida for sending support to the Sunshine State.
On Saturday, the Smyrna, Georgia, Police Department delivered the gift on uniform boots to the Gulf County Sheriff’s Office, along with fresh batches of clothes and blankets for use in the region.
The county was among those hard hit by Hurricane Michael in October.
“The generosity and assistance of our fellow law enforcement brothers and sisters has been overwhelming,” read a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.
But the interagency support from Georgia was just from one nearby neighbor to the North.
Indiana Homeland Security deployed its All Hazards Incident Management Team to Panama City and workers continued through Thanksgiving to man the shelter and help displaced residents and their animals. The shelter still had about 200 living there as of this week, though that was half the number of people staying there the week before.
The Indiana team planned to stay in town until this weekend before finally returning home.
The Detroit District deployed support from Michigan to Florida. Officials there made special note of Shawn Sanchez, who deployed to the Panhandle from Detroit as part of the United States Army Corps of Engineers Operation Blue Roof Team.
That cooperative effort, led by the Army Corps’ Jacksonville District, works with FEMA to help eligible homeowners get new roofs on their home as soon as possible.
Similarly, Dereck Wansing of the Kansas City Army Corps of Engineers has been in Florida working to help those impacted by the storm.
Both Wansing and Sanchez this weekend got special shouts from Scott on social media this weekend.
And so did some Florida officials working the Panhandle despite living in areas far from the storm.
Tampa Fire Rescue issued special commendations this weekend for Special Operations Chief Ricardo Salabarria and Task Force 3 Tampa Team Leader Captain Charles Eliason for the work they did in Michael’s immediate aftermath.
