Panama City resident with ties to north Alabama talks about Hurricane Michael

(WAFF) - Many people along the Gulf Coast are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, including one woman that has family in Decatur and Florence. She decided to ride out the hurricane at her home in Panama City.

Mary Richardson says she made the decision to stay when the hurricane was still a Category 3, which her family has been through before.

However, by the time it was upgraded to a 4, she says it was too late. She tells me she is fine and has accounted for all of her family and most of her friends at this time. But after 18 years of living in Panama City, she is now thinking about relocating

Richardson says she rode out the hurricane yesterday afternoon with her boyfriend and son in their ground level apartment. She says there was some flooding in their apartment, but they believe the damage was minimal.

After the storm passed, they went outside to observe the damage and saw shear destruction everywhere they turned. They checked on family before leaving the city to head to Dothan, which is where they are trying to find a hotel.

Her family’s biggest problem is they had already planned to move in the next week, but their new home was blown away by the hurricane.

“Our lease in the apartment that we are currently in is up tomorrow, on Friday. We’re suppose to be out and moving into another house, that we had already put a deposit down on. And now that obviously is not going to happen," said Richardson.

"So that is going to be a bit of a nightmare, trying to figure out where to go from there. So. everything is just up in the air,” added Richardson.

Richardson says her dad will be coming down tomorrow with his truck so they can get back over to Panama City, sort through what belongings she has left, and come to Alabama to figure out where she will go next.

Despite everything they’ve been through, she is thankful they made it out alive and have insurance.

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