TIFTON — Almost two months out from Hurricane Michael making landfall, some Florida communities continue to struggle with the fallout.

Jan Connell saw it firsthand when she went to visit her brother-in-law, Coy Connell, who lives in Panama City.

“When we got down there it was just total devastation,” said Jan Connell. “Most of it was flattened. Trees on houses, cars on houses, trees on cars. I never would have imagined that something like that would have happened. It was like a bomb just went off and flattened everything. It was horrific. I bawled the whole time the first time.”

When she got back home to Tifton, she started collecting donations.

“God just spoke in my heart,” she said. “I woke up one morning and I just had that feeling.”

To that end, she’s collected donations from individuals, organizations and businesses, and put out donation boxes at the Tift County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Gene Scarbrough donated thousands of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).

“I was fortunate enough to be sent some MREs from up around Atlanta,” said Scarbrough. “We didn’t need them, and I reached out to our counterparts in southwest Georgia  and they said they had plenty.

“It’s food that’ll get ‘em by until they can do better.”

“We’ve taken tents,” said Connell. “I’ve collected clothes, personal hygiene items, water. The bread store here has donated tons of bread for me to take down there. Anything you can imagine — pillows, diapers, formulas.”

Her first trip down to Mexico Beach, a Florida community devastated by Hurricane Michael, she talked with police officers and met with residents.

Along with another volunteer, Jessica Biscotta, Connell started making weekly trips down to hard hit Florida communities.

She takes donations and goes “house to house and tent to tent,” she said, delivering them personally to people in Springfield, Calloway, Mexico Beach and Panama City in Florida.

“Some of them are hopeful, some of them are walking around in a daze,” said Connell.

Connell plans to keep taking donations down every weekend “as long as I can,” and has started a “The Florida Panhandle” fundraiser on Facebook.

The donation boxes at the Tift County Sheriff’s Office are still available.

“We’re glad to help people that need the help,” said Scarbrough. “We could have been hit far worse…It’s not something that’s going to go away over night. They’re in dire need of stuff.”

“What we need is for people to connect, to keep donating,” said Connell. “I don’t think people realize the damage down there.”

For more information about donating, Connell can be contacted at 229-520-1993.

Items Connell is looking for include: Clothing, including blankets, jackets and socks, food, lighter fluid, gas cards, Walmart cards and ponchos, among other things.