PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — Thousands turned out for President Trump's rally in Panama City Beach. Doors opened an hour ago, but it gets started at 7:00 p.m./Central Time.
A lot of people here live in Panama City Beach, but we spoke to people from Chicago, Alabama, California, and New York.
One common thread here, other than a huge amount of excitement for the President's arrival, is many are wondering if he has good news to share about hurricane relief funding for the Panhandle.
"We've got plenty of work but there's no housing. The housing is gone. Everything that got torn up on the other side of the bridge, everybody that was over there has now come to this side," said Robin Prater, who lives in Panama City Beach. "So housing has gone through the roof. So there are a lot of concerns for a lot of people that they can't afford to live here anymore so a lot of them are leaving."
Prater says in the seven months following Hurricane Michael, restaurants here are struggling because there is hardly anyone here to work.
She adds rent has gone up for any housing left and that's leaving people with no choice but to leave the area.
And that's why many locals told us they feel like Michael has become the forgotten storm and they're really hoping Trump is here to offer some federal funding and get this area back on track.
