Nearly 8 Months After Hurricane Michael, Florida Panhandle Feels Left Behind
When Hurricane Michael struck the Panhandle of Florida last October, Keith and Susan Koppelman were huddled in the bathroom of their small, two-bedroom rental trailer just north of Panama City.
"When the winds came we both started praying," says Keith, 49. "I thought, 'Oh my God, this is a big storm.' "
After four hours, they finally emerged to survey the damage. The storm's 160-mile-per-hour winds had torn off the porch and peeled away the trailer's tin siding.
"It was like an atomic bomb went off," says 52-year-old Susan. Oak trees were lying flat on the ground, and a neighbor was calling for help.
The couple had been living there for only a month and a half, but the damage was so serious that their landlord evicted them to make repairs.
They say they were denied FEMA housing assistance, so they lived in their car while looking for a new place to live.
The Koppelmans are among the tens of thousands of Floridians who have been forced out of their homes since Michael, the strongest storm ever to hit the region. Some are still homeless. Many more have left the region entirely.
