BY DC CUEVA
It wasn't that long ago that Gus made his MTV debut as that ladies man from the same hometown and common roots as Are You The One alum turned Challenge champ Hunter Barfield -- Perry, FL -- and made a name for himself on the same channel as a guy whose fiery personality infamously cost him a share of $1 million on Final Reckoning last year. Gus is one who the ladies love for being a true Southern gentleman and who has graced many a book cover, but one who never shies away from showing his emotions especially when it comes to the icy relationship he has with his family.
While PCB has seen a renaissance in national interest thanks to the two seasons of Floribama Shore being filmed in a past host city of MTV's annual Spring Break festivities - and as many college students are spending their week's escape from the grind of the school year there this weekend, the town has also made news for a much different reason in the past year. No, it's not the initial negativity locals feared would bring to their town when it premiered two years ago, but something that those who live in this part of the country brace themselves for once Memorial Day comes around: the Atlantic hurricane season.
And it's one that took place this past year -- and one that deeply affected so many people in a region of almost 180,000 people -- that gave reason for Gus and his cast to return to town earlier this month during Spring Break to lend a helping hand to their adopted hometown.
On Johnny Bananas' very first MTV season in 2006, he and the cast of The Real World Key West found themselves in the middle of the deadliest hurricane season in American history, and arriving during the most destructive storm of all. It began with them riding out Hurricane Katrina before they moved into their house, then them evacuating from their house again when Rita came a calling. And when Wilma made her mark in South Florida, everyone involved in the show went up northward to Orlando in safe ground, and the crew broke down the fourth wall to ride out that storm with the cast.
In early October last year, a storm named Michael began forming in the southern Caribbean, emerging to become a tropical depression and then became a hurricane when it made its way from Cuba up the Gulf of Mexico. On October 9th, it became a Category 4 hurricane when winds were clocked in at 155 mph, making it the strongest Atlantic hurricane to form in October and at the back end of hurricane season since the Wilma twister that disrupted The Real World 13 years earlier.
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| A Florida beach town after the hurricane (WJHG-TV) |
By the time Michael dissipated into the Atlantic, 57 people in the U.S. had lost the lives as did 15 others in Central America when the storm made landfall there before making its way northward. The financial cost of this disaster numbered in at over $25 billion (US), which included damage to American fighter jets based in the area, nearly $7.25 billion in insurance claims, and nearly $4 billion in losses to agriculture both in Florida and next door in parts of Georgia. It ranks as the 8th costliest storm in American history -- all of which (except for Hurricane Andrew in 1992) have occurred during the 2000's and 2010's when climate change has become a buzz word.
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| Panama City, FL after Michael (Tampa Bay Times) |
Mexico Beach was the most devastated of all the towns that suffered from the hurricane's wrath, which saw this town of 1,200 people lose just about everything with nearly every home being left as a total loss. Extensive damage was caused to nearby Tyndall Air Force Base as it was right in the eye of the storm, leading FEMA to call the community "ground zero" as the town's mayor told residents that the recovery effort of restoring electricity and water service could be months on end.
Just nearby is Panama City, a stone's throw from Panama City Beach, and the largest city in between Pensacola to the west of town and the state capital of Tallahassee to its east. The western part of Michael's storm center made contact with the city, and left behind a trail of damage in its wake. Gone were shopping centers, restaurants, office buildings and hotels... so were apartments and houses, and TV and radio station transmitters that knocked local broadcast media off the air.
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| Twitter @NillyTheSquid |
Nilsa Prowant had already been through a lot -- including getting married and divorced -- before moving into the Floribama beach house, and most know her for her on-again, off-again and always flirtatious relationship with Gus. But when Hurricane Michael came barreling into the region two days after the summer half of Season 2 aired, she turned from being a reality star into one of the many who helped out in the community in the beginning of the months' long recovery process.
The day of the storm, Nilsa posted on Instagram @NillyTheSquid, "Floribama Shore might just be a TV show to you, but it is also the Panhandle...home to thousands of people..Including me, @_k0nigi && our families, friends, and loved ones. People who supported us and stood by us while we were there filming so let’s stand beside them! So many people have lost EVERYTHING. Please keep everyone affected by Hurricane Michael in your prayers. 4 counties damaged and some destroyed. Let’s band together and let PCB and the surrounding areas know we are here! Thank you all for keeping the Panhandle in your prayers. God bless you."
And nearly a week after the hurricane, Nilsa went an hour's east to her hometown, the small town of Clarksville, to drop off supplies to residents who also were hit badly by the storm as well, and those she grew up with in her childhood. She wrote in the caption of the IG photo below, "When we delivered these supplies you would have thought we were handing out hundred dollar bills. The victims of hurricane Michael have lost so much if not everything 💔 my heart absolutely breaks for all those affected by this natural disaster. Just humans helping humans."
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| Instagram @_k0nigi |
Kortni shared with her Twitter and Instagram followers a picture of the house she grew up in suffering great damage, including the roof's insulation melting down into the floor of what was once her kitchen, plus other photos of the storm's destruction around town, and her clearing out trees from the road so car traffic would not be affected. As it was with Andrew in 1992, the storm also brought into focus the issue of looser building codes in parts of Florida where homes could be vulnerable to deadly storms due to different house construction practices compared to other communities and different states.
While many students have been partying up over the past month in the likes of Cancun, South Padre Island and Florida this month, others have used their Spring Break week to do something different than just letting loose at the club. Alternative Spring Break has given those not in the mood to go party the chance to travel to places other than the beach or a major tourist destination to give back to the community, to construct new houses, and improve the way of life in the towns they call home. And in the case of places that have suffered tremendous disasters, the opportunity to give them something to be happy about again.
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| Twitter @Viacom |
Before she joined Bananas and Nany of The Challenge, Angela and Jozea of Ex On The Beach and Brandon and Cara of Siesta Key for the revival of MTV Spring Break in Cancun, Nilsa got to welcome most of her Floribama roommates back home to Panama City Beach to join with Habitat for Humanity help rebuild a house for a family who lost their home in the hurricane. Gus, Jeremiah Buoni, Kirk Medas, Candace Rice and Codi Butts joined her and representatives from MTV and parent company Viacom as they became volunteers and doing their part in the area's rebirth... one which they hope will give the area more visibility as residents continue to pick up the pieces, and companies and authorities recognize the help those who live there continue to need.
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| Floribama cast with Jones (middle, @FloribamaShore) |
The person that the Floribama cast brought a smile to was Panama City resident Renee Jones, who lost her home in Michael's rage. Like what we have seen countless numbers of times with the cast when they gather around for family dinner, Jones gave a prayer before work on her new house began, and was described by Gus as being "very emotional" and "worked up" while she heard the hammers and nails being put down. And she added, "It's been wonderful. I wouldn't... I'm about to cry, so I can't do it anymore," all as she began to forge a bond with six of her new friends from a show she hadn't heard of until she met them.
And Nilsa captioned on Instagram, "So incredibly blessed my roommates and I were able to be apart of helping build two Hurricane Michael victims a home! We worked along side our MTV reps as well as Habitat for Humanity building frames, land scraping, putting up walls etc. We set the foundation for a family to have a home! I can’t get over that! Hurricane Michael rocked the Panhandle and thousands of people are still without homes. It is truly heartbreaking driving past the detestation. You can literally see homes torn apart with clothes to in the closets... this tragedy will take years to repair. I ask that you all please keep the victims in your constant prayers! I want to thank you all for the positive feedback you have sent our way! We were able to use our platform to show part of our character! ❤️"
Locals who got to meet them while filming their two seasons in town (not counting, of course, those hungry for screen time in picking on them) say that the Floribama Shore cast are as genuine and real as they come, echoing what we see on MTV. The Panama City region has grown to become a second home for the cast, and know exactly what the region has gone through since filming of Season 2 ended well before Hurricane Michael went through their town, which saw places get destroyed, residents deal with lost jobs and homes, and having to start their lives again from scratch.
For a part of Florida Jeremiah says is as close to his heart as a suburb of Jacksonville where he grew up, the rebuilding process on Panama City continues. But for a moment, a group who loves to say "chi chis up" before a party night and to go "puke and rally" in the clubs had the chance to lift the spirits for a local resident who lost her home during that terrible storm and helped to begin the journey towards having a home she will love once it is complete... and who now has reason to watch their show thanks to them helping kickstart that process. Of everything we've seen from the cast of Floribama Shore, them lending this helping hand might be the most awesome thing ever.
For information on how you can get involved with rebuilding homes in the communities where you live, visit Habitat for Humanity at habitat.org.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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