'We know the feeling': Hurricane Michael first responders rally to help Ian survivors

PANAMA CITY — After riding out Category 5 Hurricane Michael in October 2018, Garrett Jackson, a captain with Panama City Beach Fire Rescue, said the current state of Southwest Florida is "a familiar scene."

Jackson is one of many local first responders assisting communities hit by Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that struck the western side of the Florida peninsula last week, causing widespread flooding and property damage.

As of Monday, Jackson, four other firefighters from his department, five firefighters from the Panama City Fire Department and five firefighters from the Lynn Haven Fire Department were among the approximately 25 outside first responders stationed in Englewood.

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They arrived Thursday night and plan to leave Saturday, when crews from other areas are scheduled to take their place.

"We had to protect our city (after Michael) and pick up the pieces from the damage, but we had task forces from (South Florida) come up and help us," Jackson said. "This area (and its residents now) need help, and we're repaying them for what they did for us (in) 2018. It definitely feels good."

Though Englewood was not hit by Ian as hard as other areas, it still experienced extensive destruction, and many people lost their homes, Jackson said. It has a large amount of manufactured homes, many of which were ripped apart, he said.

And while the storm has passed, the community might not be in the clear.

"Where we're at, the water got high but then subsided quicker than I think just about anywhere else," Jackson said. "The rumor going on now is that the rivers are hitting their maxes, and the dams have not held up, so there's a threat of that water coming back to this area."

Panama City Beach police helps in Venice

Like Jackson, Sgt. Nicholas Caligiure of the Panama City Beach Police Department reported vast damages to manufactured home communities in Venice, where he, nine other officers from the Beach Police and six officers from the Panama City Police Department are stationed.

Caligiure arrived Friday and plans to leave Sunday. He said Monday half of the city still does not have power.

"I've seen quite a bit of major losses," Caligiure said. "A lot of (homes had) their roofs pealed off, and in one community specifically, six or seven (homes) actually burnt down during the storm and somehow caught fire."

He and Jackson said their units are working to help the communities anyway they can. This includes clearing debris, as well as picking up shifts so local first responders can attend to their properties.

Caligiure agreed with Jackson that he felt a sense of responsibility to help Hurricane Ian victims after the support Bay County received following Michael.

"When we worked through Michael, I don't think I had a day off for two and a half weeks straight," Caligiure said. "If it wasn't for mutual aid coming in, we would have continued to work ourselves back then. We know the felling of needing help and needing a day off.

"We're grateful to be here. We're happy to be here, and we're happy that we can give back some of that help that we received during Hurricane Michael."

'An overwhelming emotion'

Looking ahead, Brad Monroe, Bay County chief of emergency services, said he expects for local crews to continue responding to South Florida for "several weeks." He also said units are assigned to areas by the Florida Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee.

Like Jackson and Caligiure, Monroe said there is "no doubt" Bay County responders have a special place in their hearts for natural disaster victims after surviving Hurricane Michael.

Many areas still continue to recover almost four years after the storm made landfall.

"It's an overwhelming emotion that all of our people have — a desire to give back to the folks who helped the Panhandle and particularly Bay County," Monroe said. "They saw what we went through during Michael, and now (many of them) are in that same situation.

"Our folks really wanted to go and help, and we've tried to send as many as we can."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Hurricane Michael first responders rally for Hurricane Ian survivors