How to contact loved ones in the Panhandle after Michael

Communications cut off in much of area in wake of 'monstrous' hurricane

Hurricane Michael left hundreds of thousands of people in Florida without power.

Cellphone service remained down Friday in some of the areas hit the hardest, with the only lifelines for some being satellite phones carried by news crews.

One man's first contact with his daughter after the storm was using a CNN crew’s satellite phone. 

"It's devastating. We have a hole in our house, but that's all that's wrong with it,” Butch Alley told his daughter. “Grandmother's house is completely gone. ... It looks like a bomb went off."

Those who have not heard from loved ones can contact the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.

People can also mark themselves safe and well or search for others using safeandwell.communityos.org.

The Florida National Guard has also launched a website where loved ones can report the county where the person they are looking for is located, as well as other vital information, including the type of safety issue that might be at hand.

Those issues might include a medical emergency, entrapment, a missing person or someone who is running out of medication or oxygen supply.


About the Author:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.