TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ It's Day 2 after Hurricane Michael made landfall, and search and rescue is still under way, Florida emergency officials said Friday morning _ as more emphasis has beginning to shift to the "search."
Thousands of people have been informally reported missing to local authorities, the Red Cross and the state, as people look for their friends and relatives. The Panhandle is largely populated by small towns, spread out across dense, forested areas, which has only worsened post-disaster communications problems when cellphone towers and internet services go out. Locating people was a top priority for emergency crews on Friday.
Officials said they similarly received inquiries about thousands of people who were missing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma last year as crews fanned out across the Keys to reduce that number.
However, Alan Harris, Seminole County Emergency Management Director, told the state Emergency Operations Center during its 8:30 a.m. briefing that so far, the state is standing down from setting up a temporary mortuary, a sign that mass casualties, at least for now, have not been found.
"We were going to establish a mortuary location. Thank God we're not seeing that as a critical need," Harris said. "That's actually some great news. We hope that news continues."
But, Gov. Rick Scott, speaking to reporters outside, was cautious not to be too optimistic yet.
"I don't think we know enough," he said. "We've got to finish search and rescue. The other thing on top of that, a lot of people get hurt afterwards. That's why we talk about: Make sure you know how to use generator. Don't put it inside your house. Be careful with all the chainsaws ... and don't touch downed power lines."
Food and water distribution intensified Friday, as pallets of provisions made their way to the coast on the roads that have been cleared of debris. Helicopters were needed to deliver supplies to most remote areas like St. George Island, Apalachicola and Port St. Joe, state officials said.
There are no longer any "widespread" fuel outages, according to Scott. He was scheduled to visit both Mexico Beach and Marianna with Florida National Guard troops on Friday, in addition to getting an aerial view of the damage to Gulf and Jackson counties.
While some in the lesser-hit areas, like Tallahassee, started to get their power back on Thursday, more than 350,000 people remained without power in the Panhandle Friday morning.
"The bottom line is there is a significant amount of damage in many of those areas," said Danny Kilcollins, infrastructure branch director for the state's emergency center. "These numbers are probably not going to go down very quickly at this point."
Hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the Panhandle have also continued to evacuate their patients, whose needs have become a major focal point since 12 people died in Broward County's Hollywood Hills nursing home during Hurricane Irma when the lack of air conditioning caused deadly temperatures inside.
But because Hurricane Michael hit in October, and temperatures in North Florida have dropped in recent days with overnight lows in the 50s, Scott said he now wanted to make sure patients and nursing home residents are staying warm.
"We have shelters open (and) as long as there's a need they're going to stay open," he said. "We'll make sure we provide whatever is necessary. If it's to keep people warm, we'll keep people warm."
As roads finally reopened Friday heading west, residents from Chattahoochee gathered outside Florida State Hospital to pick up pallets of water from trucks that had managed to pass the winding, heavily forested roads into the town that morning.
Dozens of people shouldered 24-packs of water into their cars, delivered by the semi-trucks parked in front of the state mental hospital in the unexpectedly cool air.
A few lined up around a Salvation Army Emergency Disaster truck waiting for food supplies they were told would also be handed out in a few hours.
Michael "is the worst I've ever seen," said Calvin Dawkins, 53, a pharmacy assistant at Florida State Hospital, as he stepped outside to pick up some water for the church where he serves as a deacon. The hospital largely made it safely through the storm, he said, thanks to a generator inside. "It's like a city in a city."
Debra Gilcrease, 57, a behavioral therapist at the facility, said the wind had broken some windows and some cars were crushed by falling trees.
Debris removal workers were operating heavy machinery outside, as facility security strung yellow "restricted" tape around the space where they were working.
Gilcrease said those at the facility had been instructed, after a water main break, that the water might have been contaminated and that they should boil it first if they wanted to drink it. "They had to bring a lot of water in," she said.
Pamela Bates, 51, one of Dawkins' pharmacy co-workers, said she was also supposed to staff the facility after the storm but had been preoccupied after trees fell on her house during the hurricane. "My house is unlivable. There is a tree in every room."
