A house that withstood Hurricane Michael now stands largely alone on Mexico Beach, Florida.
A house that withstood Hurricane Michael now stands largely alone on Mexico Beach, Florida, reports the New York Times. Dr. Lebron Lackey, one of the owners, told ABC News, "Hurricanes happen and so we intended to build it to survive." That included adding extra concrete, particularly in the corners, using steel cables to hold the roof on, and elevating the structure on tall pilings to spare the home from a storm surge. The home, a vacation property named Sand Palace, was also outfitted with a video security system. Lackey, situated about 400 miles away in Tennessee, used it watch as Michael's 155-mile-per-hour winds battered the home, but didn't knock it down. Unfortunately, that is not the outcome experienced by his neighbors.
People are now working to clean up the largely-flattened town and the search for victims continues. The Daily Mail notes that at this time, only one fatality has been reported in Mexico Beach. The death toll for all areas affected by the hurricane now stands at 18.
