PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) - Officials want to shut down a tent camp where hundreds of people have stayed since Hurricane Michael struck Florida's Panhandle in October.
Shawn York of the United Methodist Committee on Relief says just a few displaced locals have stayed in the Panama City encampment recently.
York tells The News Herald that most of the current inhabitants are either chronically homeless or people who came to the Panhandle after the storm to find work.
Mayor Greg Brudnicki says the tent camp outside Forest Park United Methodist Church poses health risks because it lacks sanitation facilities. He said authorities have responded more than two dozen times in the past month to calls about fighting and attempted robbery.
Camp organizer Jim Reno says many inhabitants don't have anywhere else to go.
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Information from: The (Panama City, Fla.) News Herald, http://www.newsherald.com
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