It’s been less than a week since Hurricane Michael ripped through Florida, leaving behind a trail of severe damage.

On Monday, News Channel 8 photojournalist Paul Lamison flew over Wewahitchka in the Eagle 8 HD helicopter to look at the damage in the Gulf County community.

“We’re pretty far away from the coast, about 15 miles. But you can see the destruction that Hurricane Michael left behind with 155 mph winds,” Lamison said. “This is the kind of damage we’ve been seeing out in this area. Plenty of trees down, plenty of roofs ripped off. And the thing that is most concerning in this area – there’s still no power. It’s tough to get people out here to fix stuff because it’s so far out.”

Most of the area is also still without running water. People in the county are being told not to drink the water.

Many people in Wewahitchka have also started to put tarps on their roofs, hoping to protect their homes from rain.

“They expect rain in the area today and the next couple of days so this is important to get these roofs patched up before the rain comes in so they can save anything they do have within it,” Lamison said. 

“I also want to remind you there is still a curfew from sundown to sun up. And they do not want people in the county who do not belong here,” Lamison added as he flew over the area. “So if you’re sightseeing or trying to do anything else, stay away. They are trying to drop off water and supplies for people in these areas. But you can see how bad this damage is and the trees on top of these homes.”

Eagle 8 HD also flew over the Gulf Correctional Institution Annex. Many prisoners had to be removed from the facility when the storm came through.

“You can see they do now have blue tarps on but some of these roofs suffered some damage, and many of them severe,” Lamison said. “This happened the night of the storm and it was tough originally to get people in and get people out because of the damage and the traffic in and out of this area.”