Above: Curry family beach house “Do Me Good” on Cape San Blas, Florida, after Hurricane Michael. Hundreds of other homes in the area were completely leveled by the storm.  Click here to donate to Hurricane Michael relief efforts. Photo credit to Brett Thees.

On October 10, a stretch of the Florida Panhandle often referred to as the Forgotten Coast was struck by the most powerful storm in its history. Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with 155mph winds and over eight feet of storm surge, leaving towns like Panama City, Mexico Beach, and Port St. Joe in shambles. Historic winds and unprecedented flooding reduced homes and businesses to matchsticks. In many places, the coastline is unrecognizable; the cost to property is unimaginable. At least two dozen people lost their lives, and that number will rise as we discover the fates of the many people still missing. The losses suffered by these coastal communities are heartbreaking.

Galen, Jimmy, and I are feeling this pain acutely. The Curry family has a long tradition in the Panhandle, stretching back to my grandfather’s fishing trips to Mexico Beach as a kid. He and my Nana built a beach house (which he affectionately nicknamed “Do Me Good”) on Cape San Blas in the ‘80s, and after my mom finished medical school in Gainesville in 1990, my family moved to the Cape and never left. When my siblings and I were young, my parents (both doctors) opened a primary care clinic between Apalachicola and St. George Island. We would travel regularly to Panama City for gymnastics meets, soccer practices, or trips to the movie theater. My parents eventually relocated their medical practice to the neighboring town of Port St. Joe, and we three kids spent nearly our entire school careers in the Port St. Joe public school system.

Every summer since before I can remember, the extended Curry family would convene for two weeks at the beach house on Cape San Blas. “Do Me Good” has hosted family birthday parties, anniversaries, wedding receptions, and memorials. On a few occasions, it has even sheltered us when hurricanes or tropical storms struck during the family reunion. My fondest memories of childhood are of those times spent playing with my cousins in the bright white sands and deep blue waves of the Gulf Coast.

Our band officially got its start playing music in the bars and restaurants of the Forgotten Coast, and over this past year, while working on our new album, we wrote and recorded “Gulf Coast Home,” a song that pays homage to life in the Florida Panhandle. It is a song about lost love, but also about the glow of pastel sunsets, the scent of warm salt air, and the strength of a small rural community. It is a love song for home.

Now our friends and family are sifting through the rubble of their former lives, searching for the means and the courage to rebuild what they have lost. This is not a unique predicament. In recent memory, the people of Puerto Rico, Houston, New York/New Jersey, and New Orleans have faced this exact challenge. The people of Syria, Myanmar, and Venezuela have suffered the bombs and bullets of war and genocide. Countless others have suffered individually, at the hands of disease, injury, abuse.

Catastrophe is a permanent factor in the human equation, but so too is perseverance. In moments like these, I am reminded of the fortitude of the human will and the generosity of the human spirit. I have great faith in the people of the Florida Panhandle, but they will need our help. There are good people on the ground doing the heavy lifting needed to provide aid and assistance in the short term. In the long term, your financial resources will go a long way toward mitigating this disaster and restoring the Forgotten Coast to the beautiful, rural coastline we know and love.

With that in mind, we have set up a donation page to accept contributions to help the recovery effort on the Forgotten Coast. Proceeds will fund the disaster relief account of the George G. and Amelia G. Tapper Foundation, a local Port St. Joe charity that has served the Panhandle for over 30 years. The Tapper Foundation is chaired by dear friends of ours, Trish Tapper Warriner and her family, who have the connections within the community to ensure that resources are being distributed wisely to those most in need. The foundation is a certified 501(c)(3), so all contributions are 100% tax deductible. Donations can be made by PayPal or credit/debit card; please email us at bookthecurrys@gmail.com if you have any questions or issues regarding the donations.

As an additional incentive, if you donate now through our website, we will attach an advance download of our song “Gulf Coast Home” to your emailed receipt. We want to share a little piece of the place we love with you, all the more so if you are willing to share some of your generosity with us. As always, we are grateful for your consideration and support, and we wish you and yours all our best, especially if your lives have been touched by this tragedy.

#PanhandleStrong #RememberTheForgottenCoast