By Ed Offley
They were prepared.
A small army of first responders and volunteers throughout the greater Panama City Beach area instantly sprang into action after a powerful tornado struck the Gulf Beachfront and lower Grand Lagoon at 5:31 a.m. on January 9, devastating several dozen businesses, homes and tourist accommodations in the Thomas Drive area.
Emergency officials and volunteers also scrambled to other parts of Bay County – particularly Lynn Haven, Bayou George and Fountain – that fell victim to several tornados that struck the Florida Panhandle that Tuesday morning.
With estimated maximum winds of 140 miles per hour, the National Weather Service rated the Grand Lagoon tornado as EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, making it the most powerful twister to strike Bay County in over 50 years.
Tornado damage was also reported in Calhoun and Jackson Counties, including Marianna.
“The immediate response was pretty incredible,” said District 5 County Commissioner Clair Pease, who said she drove over from her home on North Lagoon Drive to Thomas Drive as soon as the funnel cloud passed by, where a destroyed two-story apartment complex caught her eye. “First responders got there in five to ten minutes and were pulling people out who were trapped in their apartments,” she said.
Bay County officials say the tornado damaged 304 buildings and 22 condominiums for a “total market loss” of $20.3 million. Countywide, this included 51 structures totally destroyed and another 45 sustaining major damage. The vast majority were single-family residences, mobile homes, condo units and apartments, said county spokeswoman Valerie Sale.
Immediately after the tornado struck, dozens of Bay County Sheriff’s deputies, rescue teams and other county officials were deployed to save people trapped in damaged homes and to clear debris-blocked streets. Panama City Beach dispatched 17 Fire Rescue personnel and 18 city police officers to aid their Bay County counterparts along the Thomas Drive storm path, said city spokeswoman Debbie Ingram.
“Whether it is within the city limits or outside the city limits, we remain one special community that continues to have the other’s back when it comes to needs,” PCB Mayor Mark Sheldon said.
Fortunately, there were no fatalities, and only five people required hospitalization, Pease said. Two of the five were a couple whose RV was turned into “a pile of twisted metal” by the tornado. Pease, who talked with the husband after their rescue, said, “The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Sheriff Tommy Ford,” one of the first responders who pulled him out of the RV.
Two weeks after the tornado came ashore, local government officials and volunteer coordinators say most of the several dozen victims of the Grand Lagoon twister have already secured temporary housing and other emergency assistance. In addition, several hundred others have received relief supplies and other support in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.
“I’m honored to be a part of this response,” said Terri Jenkins, executive director of the American Red Cross of Northwest Florida. “It has been a humbling experience to see the community band together.”
Although the funnel cloud tore through the area within minutes, the relief effort will continue indefinitely, Jenkins said in a January 19 interview. “We still have 70 Red Cross staffers and volunteers working in Bay County,” including county residents and volunteers from as far away as Pennsylvania. “We assisted over 200 people this week.”
Aiding the Red Cross effort, Gulf Beach Presbyterian Church at 271 Arnold Road opened its doors as an emergency shelter (and warming center during the post-storm freeze), while the nonprofit World Central Kitchen provided hot meals to displaced residents and responders alike, Jenkins said, United Way of Northwest Florida has also provided assistance to those in need, as has Doorways of Northwest Florida and ReBuild Bay County.
While a relatively small toll compared with the $661 million in Bay County property damage wreaked by Hurricane Michael’s devastation in 2018, those whose homes and business were struck by the tornado face a daunting recovery.
The two most visible examples of the tornado’s wrath on the PCB “island” are the Pirate’s Cove Marina at 3901 Thomas Drive, and a three-story beachfront home at 5103 Gulf Drive. Just five years after the marina’s massive “Mega-Barn” boat storage facility was torn apart by Michael’s 150-mph winds, the structure’s southern half was left a tangle of twisted steel girders and shredded wall panels, said Scott Burt, president of owner/operator Coastal Marina Management. Lighthouse Marina, a nearby facility run by Burt’s company, suffered minor damage.
Asked the status of the Pirate’s Cove storage building designed to hold 885 boats, Burt replied with a single word: “Destroyed.” When asked about the marina rebuilding effort, Burt said he wanted instead to talk about the “stunning generosity and thoughtfulness” shown his employees by a pair of nearby eateries. Without being asked, Christo’s Sports Bar and Pub and Patches Pub provided hot meals free of charge to everyone there, he said.
Several hundred yards to the south, the three-story house on Gulf Drive still rests at a seemingly impossible angle against its neighbor. It was literally ripped off its foundation and thrown against the adjacent house by the force of the tornado.
Pease said she was impressed – but not surprised – by first responders’ quick action, and the sustained effort by local churches, charities and volunteer groups to assist the tornado victims. “This whole Beach has had to go through so many things,’ Pease said. “It’s almost like a second nature to us now.”
