PANAMA CITY, Fla. _ Michael and Jennaway Knowlton don't know what happened to their shrimp business at Panama City's St. Andrews Marina.
They've been to the marina but the boat from which they sold shrimp is gone _ as is the livelihood that has sustained them for 18 years.
Back home, conditions aren't much better. Winds from Hurricane Michael blew down a garage brick wall and crushed their pickup truck.
"I don't know what we'll do," said Knowlton, 63. "We were thinking about one day selling our business and retiring. Now there is nothing to sell."
Driving into Panama City is a journey into total destruction, nearly two weeks after the storm struck Florida's Panhandle.
This past weekend, I spent two days in Panama City with five Orlando-area friends from my church, cutting down trees, tarping roofs and dragging debris from yards to curbs. We were among the 3,000 or so volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who came from as far away as Utah to help.
It wasn't a professional crew, but we had chainsaws, wheelbarrows and healthy backs. While there are thousands of volunteers from our faith and others in Bay County, many locals were surprised we offered free help to anyone who asked.
Contractors, particularly tree trimming companies and roofers, have descended on the city. It's such a lucrative business that a small plane circled the city for most of Saturday and Sunday advertising tree-trimming. Local officials warned residents to watch out for shady contractors looking to swindle the desperate.
It's the seventh time I've left my family for the weekend to join in one of these cleanup efforts. The first time was seven years ago when a powerful tornado touched down in Joplin, Mo., and carved a mile-wide path of destruction.
Hurricane Michael's impact on the Florida Panhandle is the closest thing I've ever seen to that.
The storm's 155 mph winds took most of the area's tall trees and snapped thick trunks 12 feet off the ground. Boats in marinas were destroyed, and beaches are littered with debris.
Hundreds of homes are a total loss just from trees that fell and sliced the structures clean in two. Others had roofs ripped off and now sunlight shines into interior rooms.
At one home a boat was lifted off the ground, and one end rested on a house. Elsewhere trampolines and carports flew high into the air and were impaled on the broken limbs of trees.
Thousands of customers are still without electricity. Most of the area doesn't have drinkable tap water. Curfews were ordered from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to discourage looters.
One of the first homes we visited had a huge maple tree in the front yard. Inside, ceilings had caved in, and insulation was piled on the floor.
We grabbed chainsaws and got to work. It took two hours to cut the tree and pile it up on the curb. It didn't fix all the homeowner's problems, but we were glad to do something.
Some of the homes we visited belonged to first responders who had worked long hours and didn't have time to take care of their own properties.
At the home of a veteran amputee, we chopped up palm trees and removed a mangled carport awning. Somehow, his roof avoided tree damage. But 2 inches of water had bubbled up into his home and destroyed floors and walls.
Many asked us for help we simply couldn't provide. Big trees still sit precariously on homes. Downed power lines are strewn throughout neighborhoods. Electric crews are working fast, but they are essentially rebuilding the entire power grid.
While we had 14-inch chainsaws and matching yellow shirts, we were a team of amateurs. Our crew had a lawyer, a dentist, a school consultant, a student training to be a pilot, a circuit court employee and me, a newspaper reporter. Men, women and teenagers were on other crews doing similar work.
Still, residents were overjoyed to see volunteers. They offered food and water and came out to assist in the cleanup.
We stayed in vacation home offered to us through social media. They stocked the refrigerator with a month's worth of food for twice as many people. Other volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints camped in a field near the local chapel.
Across the city, signs warned that "Looters will B shot" and residents said the storm's destruction had brought out an ugly side.
But at the same time, Bay County's weary residents were uplifted by the thousands of people who heard of their plight and came to help, spending their own time and money, sleeping in tents and enduring cuts, bruises and sunburns.
We feel this kind of service is the essence of our faith. Based on all the volunteers I saw in Panama City, many others feel the same.
Panama City needs the help.
