With 80 percent destroyed by Hurricane Michael, Mexico Beach struggles to stay livable

MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (WDRB) -- For as long as he can remember, Al Cathey has cherished the mile-long walk from his home to the center of Mexico Beach. But that all changed when he made the same walk the day after Hurricane Michael made landfall.

Cathey owns the only hardware store in the sleepy beach community. It used to be marked by colorful houses, white sand beaches, beachfront restaurants and quiet. Now, four months after Hurricane Michael, Mexico Beach is marked by the sound of screeching metal and heavy machinery.

Its look is now barren. The colors are gone.

"We're 80 percent destroyed," said Cathey, who is also the mayor of Mexico Beach. "At one point, we had around 3,000 structures here. Now there are less than 500."

Cathey's hardware store was destroyed, but since the storm hit Oct. 10, he's reopened behind the old store inside a sheet metal warehouse.

"We've been here so long, we've been through so many storms," he said. "I had no idea that four hours would do what we see here. I never thought that could happen."

With sustained winds of 155 mph and a storm surge of up to 14 feet, Hurricane Michael is one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall in the U.S.

"When you live here, and you've been in a mom-and-pop business for 50 years, you know so many of the people," Cathey said. "As I was coming this way I was just realizing that all of that's gone."

Immediately following the hurricane, the city of Mexico Beach issued a 90-day moratorium on new construction in order to keep focus on on clean up.

"Now, we are into the recovery. We are into the rebuild of our community," Cathey said. "I think in about a year and a half, two years, you're going to start to see us with new structures coming out of the ground."

The optimism to rebuild is tempered by a shrinking tax base and ever-increasing obligations for critical infrastructure needs.

"Our tax base is basically destroyed. Last week, we had 330 water customers out of 3,000," he said. "We've got to keep the wolves at bay when it comes to the money, because if we can't pay (contractors), they're going to leave."

According to Cathey, the $1 million rainy day fund the city had dried up in just a few days.

Mexico Beach still rebuilding 4 months after Hurricane Michael

Residents don't wan't change

Lynn Dame typically uses her Mexico Beach home as a vacation home. When Hurricane Michael came, she was visiting from her permanent home in Arkansas. She evacuated, but when she came back a few days later, her life changed forever.

"I see all of my neighbors' homes. They're in pieces. And they're stacked up above the garage door," she said.

Her home was inundated with 4 feet of water during the worst of the storm surge, but structurally, the two-story home is still intact. Instead of going back to Arkansas, though, Dame has made Mexico Beach her permanent home. She lives upstairs and works most days to restore the downstairs part of her home. She and her neighbors cook their meals on an electric hot plate.

"I know that it will come back," she said. "This is a strong little town."

The one thing she desperately doesn't want is for the character of Mexico Beach to change. She cherishes the quiet quaintness and small-town feel.

"I cry every day," she said through tears. "I cry every day, because I know how beautiful it was. I get out here, and I sweep just to try and relieve the tension. I have very good friends back in Kentucky, and they call on a regular basis. My brother from Benton comes down, because he knows that I need his support."

If Mexico Beach can once again become viable like it was before the storm, it will be on the backs of people like Cathey and Dame who are steadfast in their desire to not let Mexico Beach change.

Having seen and lived and knew so many of these people and knowing that all those memories, all of that is gone. It had me questioning what will we be?" Cathey wondered. "But then, hell, I woke up one day and said, 'We're going to be what we were.'"