Man gets emotional talking about riding out 9-12 feet storm surge with mom

MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — It’s been an emotional time for residents in Florida’s panhandle.

So many have lost homes, businesses and their belongings, but they are happy to have survived Hurricane Michael.

Scott Cawthron, resident of Mexico Beach, got emotional talking about riding out the hurricane at home with his 72-year-old mother.

“It was in pieces. The roof is over there and the structure is over there underneath another house,” he said. 

He told CNN reporter Brooke Baldwin that he got banged up.

“The flooding occurred and it was much more than the initial report of six to nine feet. It was nine to 12 easy. I looked out the .. it was outside my bedroom window upstairs because it had started flooding downstairs so I told my mother, 72 years old, come upstairs and we hid in a closet and the floor started sinking away from us and the roof truss fell in on the door I couldn’t get out of the closet and God gave me strength to get the door open, get her onto the door we were pushing open and the sheet metal wedged on my head so I could protect her from the wind and everything. She got a bad gash on her foot but we’re okay.”