PANAMA CITY, Florida — Destruction from Hurricane Michael is visible everywhere in Panama City. But something else is emerging in the recovery. Something beautiful.

Hank Rutherford of Panama City has a hurricane hat that he always wears when a storm is approaching Florida.

He calls the hat "Gussie."

"I dig it out whenever a storm is coming and I wear it until things start to pass and become normal again," he said.

Looking around his neighborhood right now, Rutherford said all he sees is destruction. There are houses split in half by trees, downed power lines, collapsed buildings and crushed cars.

"It's killer, it's devastating," he said. "Personally, we fared really well, but there are people who have absolutely nothing left."

Helping out

So Rutherford is doing what can to help, giving a kerosene stove to the Taylor family.

They have no power, major roof damage and they're struggling to get by with a one-year-old baby.

"I'm trying to stay here and deal with it the best way I can," said Amy Taylor.

Repairs could take months, but she said Rutherford's stove will help.

"All we can do is say 'thank you' for all the help, we couldn't ask for more," she said.

Making a difference

A couple of streets over, David Godfrey is dealing with losing the back portion of his house.

"We watched as the Florida room lifted up, the walls collapsed and it was all gone," he said.

In spite of his own damage, Godfrey is letting neighbors use his generator to charge their cell phones, and he's planning to work on clearing the streets.

"There's this big tree blocking the road to our neighborhood, so I'm going to cut it up and pull it off to the side so cars can get through, and also to help the power company get to us," he said.

Storm victims say the help is making a difference.

"I've never seen so much help. I do appreciate all the people coming from all across the country doing it," said Greg Haymon.

Godfrey said he hopes some good can come out of all the bad.

"I think it's going to bring a lot of people together," Godfrey said.