Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Child of the Storm: Homeless Baby, Family Shelter at Walmart
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 18, 2018

Share

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Their home full of soggy furniture and mosquitoes, Wilmer Capps was desperate to find shelter for his wife and their son Luke, born just three days after Hurricane Michael ravaged the Florida Panhandle.

“We had everything. Full-time job, a place to live. One day we had it all, the next we had nothing. This is not what I thought I’d be bringing him back to.”Lorrainda Smith, Hurricane Michael victim
So Capps, his wife Lorrainda Smith and little Luke settled in for the longest of nights in the best spot they could find: The parking lot of a Walmart store shut down by the storm.
On a starry night, mother sat in the bed of the family’s pickup truck; her child sat in a car seat beside her. Dad sat in the dark and pondered how it could be that his son’s first night out of a hospital could be spent outside a big-box retailer because of a lack of help.
“It really upset me, man, because I’ve always been the type of person who would help anyone,” Capps said in an interview with The Associated Press, which found the family outside the store Monday night. An AP photographer accompanied them on a journey from the lot to a hospital and met them again at a hotel where donors later provided them a room.
Luke is healthy and so is Smith, his mom. But she said her newborn deserves better than the stormy life he’s had so far.
“We had everything. Full-time job, a place to live. One day we had it all, the next we had nothing,” said Smith. “This is not what I thought I’d be bringing him back to.”

Luke’s Birth Is Just One Story Amid the Chaos

The story of Luke’s birth is just one amid the chaos that life has become in areas of the Florida Panhandle hit hardest by Michael.
With the hurricane bearing down on their native home of Panama City, Capps and Smith sent their three other children to stay with relatives. Doctors had planned to induce labor on Oct. 11, the day after Michael made landfall between here and Mexico Beach, wiping out a wide expanse of buildings and timber.
Smith went to the hospital as planned that day, courtesy of a ride in a police car along streets crisscrossed with downed trees and powerlines. Smith said workers at Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center told her they couldn’t deliver a baby that day, so she walked several miles (kilometers) home after being unable to find a ride back.
Anya Mayr, a Gulf Coast Regional spokeswoman, said the hospital has operated only as an emergency room and hasn’t admitted patients since Michael. About 560 people have been treated for injuries ranging from storm wounds to heart attack and chainsaw cuts, she said, and more than 170 have been transferred to other hospitals by ambulances and helicopters.
Labor pains started the next day, so Capps drove Smith to a hospital about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the north in Dothan, Alabama, which was flooded with coastal refugees from Michael. She gave birth at 1 a.m. last Saturday, three days after Michael’s landfall.
Discharged from the hospital and unable to find a hotel room nearby, the couple drove back to Florida, where conditions had improved only slightly since Michael.

Unable to Stay at Their Home Amid Oppressive Heat and Bugs

Still unable to stay at their storm-damaged home amid oppressive heat and bugs, Capps settled on the Walmart parking lot because they were low on gas and were fearful of driving at night with a curfew in place. The store has a reputation for letting travelers sleep in the parking lot overnight, and Capps knew it.

“I had no choice, (Luke) would have had a heatstroke. When he started acting like he was getting sick from the heat and wouldn’t eat, that’s when we went to Walmart.” — Wilmer Capps, Hurricane Michael victim
“I had no choice, (Luke) would have had a heatstroke. When he started acting like he was getting sick from the heat and wouldn’t eat, that’s when we went to Walmart,” Capps said. “There was kind of a breeze there, there was no bugs biting us. I said ‘We’re all right now.”
Police officers who showed up after the AP photographer escorted them back to Gulf Coast Regional, where workers checked out Luke but couldn’t provide a bed for the night, frustrating Capps. Fearful of safety and sanitation problems at a shelter suggested by workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the family returned to the Walmart lot.
There, they met a security guard who helped secure them a hotel room in nearby Panama City Beach with air conditioning, water and power Tuesday night. Capps doesn’t know how long the aid will last, but he intends to repay the donation.
Pulled back from the brink after doubting the kindness of humanity on that night in the parking lot, Capps still has little money and no permanent home. But things are looking up because of the kindness of strangers.
“These people have been a godsend, because otherwise we’d be back in the parking lot tonight,” he said.

DON'T MISS

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

DON'T MISS

Santa Who? Bizarre Christmas Traditions Stealing the Holiday Spotlight

DON'T MISS

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

DON'T MISS

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

DON'T MISS

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

DON'T MISS

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

DON'T MISS

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

DON'T MISS

FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

DON'T MISS

In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day

UP NEXT

A Look at the $100 Billion in Disaster Relief in the Government Spending Bill

UP NEXT

US Deportations Surge to Highest Level in a Decade Before Trump Takes Office

UP NEXT

White House Pushes to Find American Journalist Abducted in Syria

UP NEXT

Liberal Donors Plot to Overturn Republican House Majority in 2026

UP NEXT

The ‘Murder Hornet’ Has Been Eradicated From US, Officials Say

UP NEXT

Supreme Court Will Hear Arguments Over the Law That Could Ban TikTok

UP NEXT

Trump’s Picks for Top Health Jobs Not Just Team of Rivals but ‘Team of Opponents’

UP NEXT

Most US Teens Are Abstaining From Drinking, Smoking and Marijuana, Survey Says

UP NEXT

Mystery Drone Sightings Continue in New Jersey and Across the US. Here’s What We Know

UP NEXT

Drone Sightings Lead to Airspace Shutdown at Ohio Military Base, Arrests Near Boston Airport

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

5 hours ago

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

21 hours ago

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

21 hours ago

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

22 hours ago

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

22 hours ago

FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

23 hours ago

In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day

23 hours ago

A Look at the $100 Billion in Disaster Relief in the Government Spending Bill

23 hours ago

It’s Eggnog Season. The Boozy Beverage Dates Back to Medieval England but Remains a Holiday Hit

23 hours ago

9-Year-Old Among 5 Killed in Christmas Market Attack in Germany

24 hours ago

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

Bobbie Sage thought nursing would be her salvation. She was trapped in an abusive relationship with four kids and looking for a steady incom...

4 hours ago

4 hours ago

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

4 hours ago

Santa Who? Bizarre Christmas Traditions Stealing the Holiday Spotlight

5 hours ago

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

5 hours ago

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

21 hours ago

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

21 hours ago

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

22 hours ago

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

22 hours ago

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend