Man Whose Mexico Beach House Was One of Last Standing After Hurricane Michael Calls out Climate Denier Politicians

Julie-Dermansky-022
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In Mexico Beach, Florida, Russell Kingโ€™s house is the only beachfront property that survived Hurricane Michael with little damage. But the fact it survived the latest record-breaking hurricane doesnโ€™t give King peace of mind.ย Can it withstand the next storm that comesย itsย way?

Climate scientistsย predict that stormsย will continue to intensify, and King takes this to heart, worrying theย next one could take down his house.ย I met King on Octoberย 14, four days afterย Hurricaneย Michael made landfallย and wipedย out a large portion of Mexico Beach, a small town on Floridaโ€™s panhandle. The storm swept into the area with winds of up to 155 miles per hour (mph), just two shy of reaching a Categoryย 5ย storm designation.ย 

Russell King's house still standing in Mexico Beach, Florida
Sand Palace
, Russell Kingโ€™s House in Mexicoย Beach.

Kingโ€™s home, which he owns with his nephew, Dr. Lebron Lackey, was built to withstand 240 mph winds, well beyond the standards of the current building code. Nearby houses built to the latest code all sustained substantial damage.ย Most of those stillย standingย will likely need to be torn down. About a mile east on Highway 98, the main road along the coast, the top two floors of a four-story house moved from the beach to the road. The bottom floorsย wereย obliterated.ย 

Owners of a home built to code in Mexico Beach retrieve belongings from top two stories on the beach.
Owners of a home built to the latest building code in Mexico Beach, Florida, retrieve belongings from the top two stories that were pushed by Michaelโ€™s storm surge onto Highwayย 98.ย 

Cell phone photo of a four story house before Hurricane Michael
Owner shows me on his cellphone what his four story home looked like before Hurricaneย Michael.

I was preparing to camp out in my car onย the beachย near King’s home when he graciously invited me in. โ€œWe still have dry beds,โ€ he said. That night we talked over candlelight about climate change andย politics.ย 

King, a formerย Air Forceย Lt.ย Colonelย and practicing lawyer, is a Republican, but voted for Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election becauseย he sees Donald Trumpโ€™s stance on climate science as a threat to the country. โ€œLetโ€™s get to the facts and truth, and don’t worry about if itย comesย fromย the right or the left,โ€œ Kingย said.ย 

It troubles him that people are confusing the message with the messenger when it comes to science. King pleads with his climate-denierย friendsย to watch Al Goreโ€™s latest film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, and form their own opinions,ย rather thanย going along with what politiciansย say.ย 

As the sun came up, we gazed outย from the balconyย over the destructionย below. The few structures still standing appeared damaged beyond repair. Many others were completelyย gone.ย 

Destroyed home on Mexico Beach
Home on Mexico Beach near the Kingsโ€™ย home.

Boat in between homes in Mexico Beach after Hurricane Michael
Boat sandwiched between homes in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

โ€œThis is what my view is going to be for a long time,โ€ King said. He worries things will never be the same there, and feels terribleย for his neighbors. Many of the houses in Mexico Beach were decades old, owned by middle-class families who wonโ€™t have the money to rebuild toย the current building code, even though the code is not strong enough to protect from a storm likeย Michael.ย 

A command center for first responders and the militaryย was set upย to the right of his house, in theย midst of anย apocalyptic landscape of carsย wrapped around bareย trees and cement slabs where houses once stood. To the left of his house destruction stretched as far as the eyeย could see.ย The view of theย beautifulย beach isย marredย by the remains of the town’s wooden pier, now rippedย apart.ย 

Russell King and his nephew Dr. Lebron Lackey sit in chairs amid hurricane debris
Russell King and his nephew, Dr. Lebron Lackey, in Mexico Beach, Florida, a couple blocks from theirย home.

โ€œIโ€™m tired of politicians lying to us.ย The American people need to understand they are lying,โ€ King said. โ€œThe people who are denying climate change are not telling theย truth.โ€ย 

He likened the misinformation campaign against climate science to the campaign to protect the tobacco industry, which claimed cigarettes were no threat to human health. He was well aware that the fossil fuel industry is using the same tobacco industry playbook and lobbyists to sow doubt about climate change. โ€œThere is nothing clean about coal,โ€ King said, just like thereย is nothing healthy about smokingย cigarettes.ย 

Kingโ€™s nephew, on the other hand, is not convincedย that humankind is playing a key role in changing the climate, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, and doubts that thereย is much humansย canย do now toย slowย the warming climate. He voted for Trump and, though he doesnโ€™t agree with everything Trump does or says,ย readily repeats common climate denial talkingย points.ย 

On October 15, I photographed hand-painted signsย on Highway 98ย that said:ย โ€œMake Mexico Beach Great Again.โ€ As I focused on the signs andย documented the destruction, a number of helicopters flew over, one of them withย President Trump and the First Ladyย aboard. They were surveyingย the damage from the air beforeย visiting Lynn Haven, a small town next to Panamaย City.ย 

City Hall in Mexico Beach, Florida, after Hurricane Michael
City Hall in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

Building damaged by Hurricane Michael with a message asking Trump for help
Building damaged by Hurricane Michael with a message forย Trump.

Trump describedย the destructionย as โ€œtough to see,โ€ย but the experience had noย effectย on his stance on climate change. Following his visit to Florida and Georgia to see the stormโ€™s damage,ย he told Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutesย that he doesnโ€™t deny climate change but then went on to say the climate would swing back on itsย own.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, who is trying to win a Senate seat,ย is,ย like Trump, a climateย changeย denier. Scott reportedly banned theย use of the terms โ€œclimate changeโ€ and โ€œglobal warmingโ€ by theย staff of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.ย During anย October 14ย press conference at a command center outside of Panama City, he reiterated his stance that climate science isย undecided.ย 

Most of the people I spoke to in Mexico Beach held the view that the climate is changing, butย that itย has little to do with humankind.ย Despite their personal loss, they told me that they haveย faith that God and theย Trumpย administration will help themย rebuild.

A broken up Highway 98 in Mexico Beach
Highway 98 in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

Owner of the Driftwood Inn inspects hurricane damage to his hotel in Mexico Beach
Owner of the Driftwood Inn inspecting the damage to his hotel in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

I met Thomas L. Wood, the owner of the Driftwood Inn, in front of his hotel on Highway 98. โ€œForty-twoย years down the drain,โ€ he said, surveying the damageย toย his beloved inn. When asked what he thinks about humanityโ€™s role in the recent record-breaking storms, he didnโ€™t see a connection.ย Heย mused that Democrats will likely blame Trump for Hurricane Michaelโ€™s damage. Inside the shell of his hotel, tears ran down his face as he looked out on to theย Gulf.ย 

Further up the road, I climbed over big chunks ofย highway collapsed onto the beach in order to getย to theย El Governor Motel, an area landmark also badly damaged by the storm. There was a familiar whiff of red tide. For a moment, my breathing was restricted and the back ofย my throat feltย scratchy.

As the storm approached, many wondered if it might break up a persistent red tide event that has lingered since last year, following Hurricane Irma and resulting in an unprecedented fishkill. I found my answer in that moment and the next day whenย I found dead fish along the Gulf shoreline: Hurricane Michael did notย clear this persistent bloom of toxic algae affecting bothย Floridaย coasts.

President Trump and presidential entourage fly in helicopters over Mexico Beach
President Trumpโ€™s entourage flying over El Governor Motel in Mexico Beach during a visit to survey Hurricane Michaelโ€™sย damage.

Hurricane Michael damage in Mexico Beach, Florida
Hurricane Michael damage in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

Though King was the only person I metย in Mexico Beach whoย advocated that society shouldย take whatever actions possible to prevent further global warming, heโ€™s not the only one calling out politicians for their denial on climateย change.

The American Meteorological Society responded to President Trump’s 60 Minutes interviewย with aย letter to Trumpย that both confirms the scientific consensus on climate change and states: โ€œYou also said that scientists are making this political, which is misleading and very damaging. The scientific community welcomes all who commit to the pursuit of understanding through science, irrespective of their political views, religious beliefs, and ethicalย values.โ€

King believes politicians who continue to deny science for their own personal gain lack aย conscience.ย Though he is glad his homeย withstoodย Michael, it is little consolation to him, knowing that the path humans are on is leading to planetaryย peril.ย 

Sign on damaged trees reading 'Free firewood, you cut'ย 
Sign on a tree in Lynn Haven,ย Florida.

On my way out of the area, I stopped in front of a home in Lynn Haven that had been crushed by trees. As I photographed a sign tacked to aย damagedย tree offeringย free firewood toย anyone who cut it, I ran into David Passey, an external affairs director for FEMA, whoย Iย met a fewย daysย earlier.ย 

Waffle House in Callaway, Florida, damaged by Hurricane Michael.
Waffle House in Callaway, Florida, damaged by Hurricaneย Michael.

He is based in California, andย saidย heโ€™d be headed back west soon, where the risk of wildfires continues to rise due to warmingย temperatures.

That morning, he received an advisoryย stating thatย power companies were preemptively shutting off power in sixย counties in Northern California that were under threat of a new round of fires. It was the first time he believes PG&E had taken such a defensive move. He told me the company reasoned it would lessen theย damage if fire arrived, and make it possible to restore equipmentย faster.

Back at my desk just outside of New Orleans,ย I am aware that my ownย houseย would notย likelyย surviveย a Category 4 storm. The National Weather Serviceโ€™s storm surge chart shows my location under water with a Cat 4ย storm.ย 

With the midterm electionsย heatingย up, I reached out to climate scientist Michael Mann for his thoughts on politicians’ culpability around climateย change.ย 

He didย notย mince words: โ€œClimate change-denying politicians are quite literally putting people in harmโ€™s way by refusing to acknowledge the heightened threat posed by hurricanes supercharged by warmingย seas,โ€ย Mannย said.

โ€œThey are putting humanity in harmโ€™s wayย by denying the larger climate threat and blocking policies in support of climateย action.โ€

Woman spray-paints a message to FEMA asking for help after Hurricane Michael
Brandy Wood Jessen spray-painting a message on the roof of a home on Highway 98 in Mexico Beach,ย Florida.

Main image:ย Sign in Callaway, Florida, damaged by Hurricaneย Michael.

Credit: All photos by Julie Dermansky forย DeSmog

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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