Family loses home just 11 months after moving to Mexico Beach

[Kramer]

Mexico Beach was one of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Michael. For those residents whose homes are still standing, they're clearing things out to eventually rebuild.

Reporter Kim Shine, from our NBC sister station WNDU, talked to one family with Indiana ties who moved into their Mexico Beach house just 11 months ago.

Brian Joseph is throwing pieces of his six-year-old son’s bed over their balcony.

It’s moldy, and like many things here, it can’t be saved.

“The house was holding up pretty well, but this whole thing came in and crashed into the wall there, and then we started losing more windows," Brian said.

The Josephs are a retired military family. They left Mexico Beach before the storm and came back to parts of their roof, their walls, and their floor missing. Outside, their view has also changed to a clear, bittersweet sight of the beach.

“Hopefully it’ll come back just newer and nicer, but still be Mexico Beach," Brian said.

Outside the home, people driving by will see signs hanging from the home. Brian wrote them to inspire his neighbors, and encourage federal support.

Brian and his wife Kristen’s sons Bryce, 10, and Brennan, 6, can’t go to school right now so they’re helping out too.

“It’s just different when you come back home," Bryce said.

But Bryce already knows this has left an indelible mark on their childhoods.

“Cause when we left, we filled sandbags and bagged up the doors and then we came back and all our sandbags were gone and our house was destroyed," he said.

Kristen, who’s originally from Evansville, said the family was just starting to build a nice routine.

“Everyone’s working really hard and I’m grateful for that, but it’s going to be a long time coming before that’s all up and running again,” she said.