Hurricane Damage causes cancellation

[urnmor]

For those who may be camping this winter in the Panama City area you may want to check your reservations. I was just notified that my reservation at the Air Base in Panama City was canceled due to storm damage. They were for end of January and most of February.

[mayco]

We are in the same situation for Top Sail State Park. The park is open but the campground is closed. Can't find any info on when they might reopen. We have reservations for mid Jan.

[Overstreet]

Originally Posted by urnmor

For those who may be camping this winter in the Panama City area you may want to check your reservations. I was just notified that my reservation at the Air Base in Panama City was canceled due to storm damage. They were for end of January and most of February.

Tyndall isn't exactly in Panama City. It is across the bay from PC, near Parker and next too Mexico Beach. Tyndal and MB took major damage from Michael. that is good advice for any park in the panhandle up in a northeast direction through Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

[Noggin]

Word is Topsail is full of contractors working storm damage. They will know more about when they may open to the public sometime in November. Fema could keep the park for a long time if they need it. May effect the Canopener but they said nobody should cancel until they here from Reserve America.

[mayco]

Originally Posted by Noggin

Word is Topsail is full of contractors working storm damage. They will know more about when they may open to the public sometime in November. Fema could keep the park for a long time if they need it. May effect the Canopener but they said nobody should cancel until they here from Reserve America.

Thanks for the information!

[urnmor]

I do not believe we were staying at Tyndall as the address of our campground is
MWR RV PARKS PANAMA CITY
110 VERNON AVE
PANAMA CITY BEACH FL 32407 USA|
That is why I was surprise at the cancellation.

[Torpedo Family]

Originally Posted by urnmor

I do not believe we were staying at Tyndall as the address of our campground is
MWR RV PARKS PANAMA CITY
110 VERNON AVE
PANAMA CITY BEACH FL 32407 USA|
That is why I was surprise at the cancellation.

Vernon Avenue is in Navel Systems Labs area and I was by there yesterday and it is a MESS. The west side of St. Andrews Bay starts the destruction. There are a couple more parks in Panama City Beach that seem to be open, Racoon River and Pines campground. Pictures do not do the destruction in Panama City east justice it is really more than I could imagine when I viewed it yesterday.

[Lil Bear]

We received notice our Thanksgiving reservations are cancelled. No word yet when the campground will reopen.

[urnmor]

Any suggestions as to where to camp now in January and February that might be available in Florida

[Isuzusweet]

Just remember all; yes, to you this is a frustrating inconvenience; but you still have a home or a trailer to live in; water and power.

To people in the Panhandle, they wish it was just an inconvenience. Some of these people will be cleaning up and rebuilding for quite a while.

I wish them well.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[trumpetguy]

Try Fort Pickens in Pensacola. They should have the road repaired soon.

[Scott59]

We were Destin a week after the hurricane. Destin looked normal, no damage. Our park was full of insurance inspectors, insurance companies send their people into disaster areas in RVs because hotels are closed, full or too far away. There is no hurricane damage in Destin and along 30a all the way to Panama City Beach , which is a few miles west of Panama City. There was minor damage in Panama City Beach. Panama City was hit very hard. We drove through and could not believe the devastation.
The Air Base and Mexico Beach were badly destroyed.
There are many many people in that area working on the recovery and they will be there for months, maybe years! The state park, Top Sail, is closed to campers because the state is using the campground to put up people helping with the recovery. Hotels are full .
The traffic between Panama City and Destin, which is about 80 miles? Is bad due to all the people helping with the recovery efforts driving all the way back to Destin for lodging food etc.
I would recommend you stay far away from Panama City for the next year. They have a huge job in front of them and things will not be back to normal for at least a year or more. We thought that since Destin was not harmed by the hurricane that it was ok to go, and we did. In hindsight we realized the area was not normal. Staffing from the east was lacking, hotels full, campgrounds closed or full, we just felt we were in the way of all the wonderful people working to help those hit hard and in need of help.

[JCWDCW]

I usually start out in Mystic Springs AS park in McDavid north of Pensacola
Then I can check availability in State Parks.
Mystic Springs has full hook ups for &20 per night but no showers and slim on other amenities. I found it a good stay for Pensacola activities and area attractions.
I don't think they got hit too badly
JCW

[uraljohn]

If your winter destination in Florida was cancelled due to hurricane damage you may try to call Land Yacht Harbor in Melbourne, Fl. Really nice all (well, mostly) Airstream park. They have 300 spaces, (250 are AS only, they take SOB's to fill it up if not enough AS) all full hookup. This place is a real gem. We are staying there Dec. 1 to Mar. 31. Extremely reasonable rates.

[mayco]

Originally Posted by Scott59

We were Destin a week after the hurricane. Destin looked normal, no damage. Our park was full of insurance inspectors, insurance companies send their people into disaster areas in RVs because hotels are closed, full or too far away. There is no hurricane damage in Destin and along 30a all the way to Panama City Beach , which is a few miles west of Panama City. There was minor damage in Panama City Beach. Panama City was hit very hard. We drove through and could not believe the devastation.
The Air Base and Mexico Beach were badly destroyed.
There are many many people in that area working on the recovery and they will be there for months, maybe years! The state park, Top Sail, is closed to campers because the state is using the campground to put up people helping with the recovery. Hotels are full .
The traffic between Panama City and Destin, which is about 80 miles? Is bad due to all the people helping with the recovery efforts driving all the way back to Destin for lodging food etc.
I would recommend you stay far away from Panama City for the next year. They have a huge job in front of them and things will not be back to normal for at least a year or more. We thought that since Destin was not harmed by the hurricane that it was ok to go, and we did. In hindsight we realized the area was not normal. Staffing from the east was lacking, hotels full, campgrounds closed or full, we just felt we were in the way of all the wonderful people working to help those hit hard and in need of help.

We have reservations in Jan at a Topsail. Ive been keeping an eye on the campground closures and it looks like Topsail is back open to the public. I'm wondering though if we should cancel or not, due to the general condition of the area. It's hard finding up to date info.

Mike

[tevake]

The opening post in this thread is very accurate in discribing the situation to the west of ground zero of Michael. The serious impact is in Panama City and further east.
I live 15 miles north of Panama City beach and have all but finished the clean up from the storm.
My brother is volunteering at Rocky Bayou S P a bit north of destin, they are also up and running, with little damage from the storm.

It's remarkable how spared the area to the west of Panama City was, considering the devistation to the east.

For visitors planning to come to this area this winter, I think you will find little problems in enjoying the area.

I haven't driven to the east of Panama City yet as they are discouraging traffic to that area so far.

Further to the east, they are hosting a seafood festival in Appalatchacola this weekend, so they are apparently less beat up that far to the east.

Cheers Richard

[Jim & Susan]

Many, many thanks to all have contributed here. We have reservations for Fred Ganon/Rocky Bayou SP near Ft. Walton/Niceville/Destin Thanksgiving week. We have not received any notifications from Florida State Parks about cancellations, so hopefully that's a good sign. We will call in the morning and confirm and see if we can get more general info about the area.

Again, thanks for the heads-up. One of the the things that makes this a great place to hang around.

Jim

[Freebird73]

Originally Posted by urnmor

Any suggestions as to where to camp now in January and February that might be available in Florida

There are a couple nice parks in Orange County near Orlando. They reserve 45 days in advance which means they are still available for January and February. Kelly Park in Apopka does not allow pets. Trimble Park in Mt. Dora does allow pets. To reserve you need to go to the Orange County website and get the phone number to call. They only reserve a max of 2 weeks. Both parks have water and electric but no sewer. I believe both have dump stations on site.

[tevake]

The point I was trying to make in my earlier rambling post is that there is a 50 mile wide area of significant damage in the eastern part of the panhandle between Panama City and Apalatchacola and extending inland a ways that are best avoided, and will be recovering for considerable time.

For those planning to visit here in Florida in areas other than that one releitivaly small area there will probably be very little impact experienced other than parks trying to accommodate those displaced from the devistated parks of that one area.

So unless your plans were to stay in that one area, there is little reason to change your plans.
In fact areas that count on significant income from visitors need those visitors to continue to come and enjoy. This maintains the revenue stream that supports the recovery.

I hope this help to clarify the situation here in the panhandle. I'll be happy to try to find answers for any questions from folks planning to visit in the near future.

Cheers Richard

[T2plt]

Back to the OP, other options for military base camping in the area are either Eglin AFB (2 campgrounds) or Hurlburt Field in the Fort Walton Beach area. Both are about an hour and half east of PCB and avoided damage from the storm.