Video: Looters Go Through Wreckage of Family Dollar Store After Hurricane Michael

Jack Phillips
Updated:

Video footage has emerged of looters going through a Family Dollar store in the wake of Hurricane Michael in Florida.

Footage posted by YouTube account Live Storms Media showed people grabbing items from the Hurricane Michael-damaged storm.

“About 40 people are seen looting, ransacking and cleaning out a destroyed Family Dollar in Panama City after Hurricane Michael,” the channel said.

The Family Dollar was missing most of its roof and half of its walls. People could be seen driving directly to the store, located in hard-hit Panama City, and loading items into their vehicles.

At the end of the video, a man is heard saying, “I gotta go get me some laundry detergent.”

CNN reported that for Bay County, where Panama City is located, a curfew was put in place after the hurricane. The curfew extends from sunset to sunrise. Gulf, Franklin, and Washington counties are also under a curfew.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Michael hit near Panama City and Mexico Beach on Oct. 10, with high-end Category 4 winds of 155 mph. Mexico Beach was especially hard-hit, and aerial footage revealed miles of flattened trees and torn-asunder homes.

The storm then hit the Carolinas and Virginia with heavy rains on Oct. 11, bringing flooding to areas that were slammed by Hurricane Florence a few weeks ago.

Homes destroyed by Hurricane Michael are shown in this aerial photo in Mexico Beach, Fla., on Oct. 11, 2018. (Chris O'Meara/AP)
Homes destroyed by Hurricane Michael are shown in this aerial photo in Mexico Beach, Fla., on Oct. 11, 2018. Chris O'Meara/AP

Death Toll at 12

So far, 12 people died during the storm, Reuters reported, which noted that the figure could likely rise as search-and-rescue crews make discoveries.

“I think you’re going to see it climb,” FEMA Administrator Brock Long said. “We still haven’t gotten into some of the hardest-hit areas.”

Officials said that more than 1 million people were left without power in the wake of the storm.

Long called on communities such as Mexico Beach to rebuild to withstand future hurricanes. “It’s OK if you want to live on the coast or on top of a mountain that sees wildfires or whatever but you have to build to a higher standard,” he said. “If we’re going to rebuild, do it right.”

“We had houses that were on one side of the street and now they’re on the other,” said Port St. Joe Mayor Bo Patterson of the damage.

The Coast Guard said it rescued at least 27 people before and after the hurricane’s landfall, mostly from coastal homes. Nine people had to be rescued by helicopter from a bathroom of a home in hard-hit Panama City after their roof collapsed, Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald Hodges said.

In hard-hit Mexico Beach alone, state officials say, 285 people in Mexico Beach defied a mandatory evacuation order ahead of Michael. The task ahead: finding and hopefully safely accounting for all those who stayed behind.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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