[PATTI BLAKE/THE NEWS HERALD]

What no one tells you about a hurricane is that it doesn’t end when the winds die down. You only think it does.

Six months after the Category 4 Hurricane Michael roared through the Florida Panhandle, the area is still working to get back up. Every step forward, every business open, every new roof, every plan, every project is a revolution against what so many people believed - that Bay County would crumble after the storm.

What no one tells you, either, is that recovery isn’t just an open business or a new roof. It’s a process. A concentrated effort.

For the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Michael, the News Herald has put together this project to show how far we’ve come in the last six months, and how far we can go.

Where are they now?

[JOSHUA BOUCHER/THE NEWS HERALD]

Plagues of Michael

[PATTI BLAKE/THE NEWS HERALD]

Living in Tents

[PATTI BLAKE/THE NEWS HERALD]

Remembering the dead

[PATTI BLAKE/THE NEWS HERALD]

A Cat 5?

[MIKE FENDER]

911 calls

[Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]