Emergency Response to Hurricane Michael

On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael struck the Florida panhandle with 155 mph winds and inflicted damage from Florida to Virginia. International Medical Corps worked with organizations like PanCare Health Network to provide healthcare services in Florida.

PanCare Health Network serves vulnerable populations at affordable prices. Sean, the Regional Operations Manager for Florida’s PanCare Health Network, said that nobody expected Hurricane Michael to be so severe: “Jackson County has never seen in recorded history anything like this type of devastation—ever… So, we had lots of folks who survived the storm, but were displaced post-storm.”

An estimated 80% of the PanCare patient population was affected by the storm, and the organization suffered nearly complete damage at two of their health facilities, in Marianna and Panama City.

With support from FedEx and AbbVie, and the GlobalGiving community, we deployed five emergency field hospital’s shelters — with three still on the ground in Florida — so that PanCare’s doctors, nurses and medical staff in Marianna and Panama City could continue to provide health and dental care for those most in need.

“We just want to make sure people get seen, people get taken care of. Because when they’re worried about everything else, they shouldn’t need to worry about, ‘I’m out of insulin, or I’m out of blood pressure medicine, or I have this cut that looks infected’” Sean tells us. “What we’re trying to do is… take care of these people. Try to keep our chins up… It’s tough” he explains.

A lot of people have lost their jobs and money – they cannot afford a doctor or dentist. “They’re so stressed out about everything,” Ashley, another PanCare staff member explains. “Their house is gone, their car is gone… I had a lady whose cat died during the storm and she’s just crying. Even if you’re just going for a dental cleaning, it’s a little bit of normalcy.”

Thanks to our generous donors, and the GlobalGiving community, International Medical Corps has been actively working since the storm to support some 3,350 medical consultations.

We thank everyone at GlobalGiving for your constant support as we continue to support the relief, recovery and resiliency for survivors of natural disasters, like those of Hurricane Michael.

When Donald decided it was time to seek treatment for his swollen right hand a week after Hurricane Michael tore through his home town of Chattahoochee in an economically stressed rural corner of the Florida Panhandle, his options were limited.

With the area still reeling from the storm’s destruction and public services struggling to return to normal, he said there was only one real choice: an International Medical Corps clinic, set up in the storm’s aftermath to treat survivors in an open field near the Intersection of US 90 and the town’s main street.

“It’s a relief that you’re here,” his wife, Tamara, told the clinic staff. “We didn’t have any place else to go.”

Like the majority of those who came to the clinic for treatment on that day, Donald’s injury was not especially serious—it was diagnosed as a bite from one of a growing population of large insects indigenous to the Panhandle that has thrived in the standing water of Michael’s aftermath. These pests suddenly found it easy to prey on Chattahoochee’s residents, who had been living for days in homes where a lack of electricity—and, thus, air conditioning—meant windows left open to welcome any breeze that would provide relief from the area’s warm, humid climate.

“We lost power for six days,” Donald said. “It came back yesterday.” His family home was damaged but still habitable—although he was keeping an eye on the roof, fearing it might leak when the next big rain comes.

Before the day was out, the International Medical Corps team—which had split into day and night shifts—had treated other local residents for a variety of problems, including head and foot trauma, headaches, ear aches, high blood pressure and stress-related symptoms, most likely related to the difficulty of living amid the destruction caused by Hurricane Michael’s aftermath: power outages, blocked roads, damaged homes and the debris from huge trees snapped in half by the 155-mph winds. And if the patients needed it, they helped heal the soreness, swelling and even infections that can accompany insect bites.

We thank GlobalGiving for your support as we continue to support the medical needs for the women, men, and children affected by the devastation from Hurricane Michael.