From Florida To Bloomington Part 3 — The Hurricane

All Indiana linebacker Reakwon Jones could do was listen to his family scream during Hurricane Michael. Ten months later, they're still picking up the pieces, and so is he.

The morning after: Hurricane Michael roared through Tanya Broxton's new house last October. She is the mother of Indiana linebacker Reakwon Jones

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Tanya Broxton has lived in the Florida Panhandle since she was a little girl, so she’s seen more than her fair share of hurricanes.

But she never saw anything like Hurricane Michael last October.

And she wishes she never did.

Broxton, the mother of Indiana linebacker Reakwon Jones, was stuck in her new home in Panama City when Michael roared through her hometown as a Category 5 hurricane, the biggest and most devastating storm to hit the continental United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. When it was too late to evacuate, they were forced to ride out the storm inside their small house.

It was the scariest day of her life.

“It was so terrible,’’ she said during an exclusive interview last week in Florida. “The wind was blowing so hard, and it was raining like crazy. My husband was on the phone with Reakwon while the storm was at its worst and right then, when they were talking, a tree came down on the house and peeled back the roof on the back side of the house.

“We were screaming and crying, and I could hear that Reakwon was screaming and crying on the phone, too. That was so hard to hear. I know he was worried about us, but it upset me too, to see that he was so upset, because I know he had to feel helpless.’’

It was a terrible day for Jones, who’s one of 25 kids from Florida on Indiana’s football team. Just about all of them have had to deal with hurricanes in one form of intensity or another at some point in their lives. They were there for their teammate, too. 

And that’s the joy of having such a connection with his home state, even here in Bloomington.

“My teammates, my coaches, even this whole community, they were all great to me,’’ Jones said recently. “I was really down because everybody wants to be there with their family and friends when they’re going through something tough. I’m the oldest of eight siblings, and it just tore me apart when I could hear my sister crying. It was so hard.’’

It sure was.

Tanya's master bathroom didn't even have a roof over it anymore after the storm

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"The longest, scariest night of my life' 

Tanya, her husband and her two youngest children — her son Omari was 11 at the time, and T’yana was 7, a day away from her birthday — were hunkered down in a bathroom during the worst of the storm. She had a mattress over her children to protect them and keep them safe.

“It lasted for a good 15 or 20 minutes at its worst, When the roof collapsed over the kitchen, the water came in all night, and water was just pouring into the house from everywhere,’’ she said. “There was really nothing we could do. As the roof came apart, water was coming from everywhere. When it started to come into the bathroom when the ceiling there cracked, we went out into a hallway, but then four or five cracks started there.

“It was the longest, scariest night of my life.’’

When the storm finally passed, Tanya said her husband didn’t want her to come out to look at the carnage. Their roof on the back side of the house had literally disappeared. From the kitchen and master bedroom and bathroom, when you looked up, all you saw were clouds and blue sky. There was water everywhere, and all of their personal belongings were destroyed.

“We lost everything. All of our trees either snapped off or were uprooted. The front of the house actually looked OK when it was over, but the back of the house was all gone. Trees were down everywhere and covered our street on both sides of us. We couldn't go anywhere, even if we wanted to.

“My husband didn’t want me to come out and look at all the damage. He knew how I’d be. It was terrible, and it just wiped away everything. It just breaks your heart to see all the damage, all the houses destroyed, and the businesses. Even all this time later, it’s still terrible. There’s still so much to clean up.’’

Michael caused an estimated $30 billion in damage so far, and even 10 months later, thousands of insurance claims are still open.

It was just last week that the new roof was finally being put on their house. It’s been a horrible ordeal trying to put their lives back together.

“Its’ been taking forever to get the house fixed,’’ she said. “We had just closed on it on May 14, just five months earlier. We had to fight with our insurance company right from the beginning. We filed a claim and they tried to alter our policy. They wouldn’t give us a claim number, but I still had my original copies of my policy, so they finally stopped trying to mess with us and got things going.’’

With thousands of homes and businesses damaged, finding contractors to do the work in and around Panama City was difficult, too. But thankfully, their insurance company is finally paying to rebuild it. A lot of her neighbors weren’t so fortunate. Just in the square mile around her house, a drive up and down dozens of streets showed several abandoned houses with red X’s on them. That means they were condemned and needed to be torn down.

“It’s so hard, because everyone needed help,’’ Tanya said. “It was very hard to find a contractor. We hired someone from Tampa first. They came up, but they gave us a lot of empty promises, so we went with someone else. Here we are, finally, in August, and they are finally putting the new roof on. The mortgage company is coming out to appraise it on Sept. 6 and we’re really hoping to be back in by Oct. 1, but who knows? That’s our goal.’’

She said she’ll never ride out another hurricane again, mo matter the projections on severity or direction.

“At the time, we didn’t think we had to leave. I’ve been through hurricanes before and the way they were talking about this one, I thought we could ride it out. But then, once it got really bad, there was really nothing we could do. That was a mistake. I’ll never do that again. The next storm, we’re leaving, no matter what.’’

Tanya's roof was ripped right off the back of their house in Panama City, Fla., by the heavy winds from Hurricane Michael last October. 

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (1 of 10)

Hundreds of businesses are still shuttered after being destroyed by Hurricane Michael in October of 2018.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (2 of 10)

The "850 Strong" phrase is everywhere for the proud people of the Panhandle in Florida.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (3 of 10)

Another business for sale.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (4 of 10)

Homes with a red X (it's on the left) are earmarked to be destroyed, rendered uninhabitable by the storm.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (5 of 10)

Another business in downtown Panama City promises to be open soon.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (6 of 10)

Tanya Broxton's home is finally getting its new roof, a whopping 10 months after the storm.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (7 of 10)

Tin roof panels are stretched out in preparation for installation at Tanya's home. She bought the house just five months before the storm.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (8 of 10)

A Category 5 hurricane can literally knock buildings right over.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (9 of 10)

Finding new homes to work isn't uncommon in Panama City these days.

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Panama City Today After Hurricane Michael (10 of 10)

This business literally collapsed under its own weight during the storm. 

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Releasing a body full of emotions

Reakwon admits that day has changed him a lot. It’s completely changed his personality and his outlook on life.

“I used to keep all my emotions buried inside me, but after that, I changed, said Jones, a senior linebacker with the Hoosiers who played at Mosley High School just outside of Panama City. "We had the Iowa game right after the storm, and it was a tough game to play. My mind wasn’t there, and I was keeping everything inside. But that next week, I just put it all out there and let everything go. We lost to Penn State, and it really hurt because I wanted to win that game for my family and my community and I felt like I let them down.

“But my teammates, my coaches, they helped lift a lot of that pressure off of me. Now I don’t hold my feelings in anymore. That was the good thing that came from all of this, I guess, I speak from the heart now. I don’t hold anything back and I feel healthier overall, my mind, boyd and spirit.

Jones got a lot out of his family’s visit that week of the Penn State game last year. Everyone crowded into his apartment, and it was great to be together again.

Tanya and the family are coming up for the Ohio State game on Sept. 14 this year, and everyone is looking forward to that.

“I am just so proud of him and everything he’s accomplished there at Indiana,’’ Tanya said. “He’s done so much here, and he’s really grown up too.’’

He’s done that with the help of his teammates, especially the Florida guys who have this inseparable bond.

“During that hurricane last year, you could really see that bond between the Florida guys,’’ said Indiana coach Tom Allen, who has those Florida ties too and has been instrumental in developing a stream of talent from all over Florida to Bloomington. ”A lot of the guys, they’ve lived it and been through some hurricanes, and they know the fear that creates. They tried to help Reakwon through it. They all leaned on each other.’’

Indiana linebacker Raekwon Jones (left) celebrates with defensive back Jonathan Crawford during last year's win over Ball State at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

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One final go-round with the Hoosiers

Jones is set to begin his final season with the Hoosiers, and he can’t believe it’s almost over.

“They didn’t lie. It goes way too fast,’’ Jones said. “I’m all in this year and we’ve all been putting in the work, all spring, all summer and now. It’s my last year and I want this team to do some things we haven’t done in a while.''

He’s ready to lead, and that starts Saturday with the season opener against Ball State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That comes natural now.

“Every day, I wake up with the mindset of being the best I can be and I do whatever I can to make sure I perform and get better, and I do the same thing to help my teammates. Whenever I see a guy down, I try to get them back up. People did that for me, and now it’s my turn to do it for them.

“That’s what makes this bond we have so special. We’re close, and everyone loves to work.’’

Part of that work is helping to bring more Florida kids to Indiana. They all are actively involved in helping the coaches when recruits are in town.

“We play a role for sure; the coaches make sure of that,’’ Jones said. “We love it, too. It’s great to have more Florida kids around. We meet them, spend time with them, tell them why we came here.

“I always tell them there’s a whole bunch of guys here who are going to take you in love you. That’s our LEO, that’s what we’re all about.’’

The team tightness and excitement was obvious two weeks ago when they all moved inot their beautiful new $2-million locker room. Jones was front and center as a senior, jumping up and down and leading the team in the school fight song.

“The new locker room, I was beyond excited,’’ he said. “The old locker room was OK, but this is really something.''

Indiana, we’re all for you! Had to break it down to break it in.#IUFB pic.twitter.com/PMnJADp8b9

— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) August 14, 2019

His mother will look forward to her new digs too. She waited all her life to own her own home, and five months later the hurricane blew it away

She’s ready to start over, too. And Reakwon wants to do more to help her.

“It was hard to see my city like that when I went down there at Christmas,'' Jones said. "We’re trying to put it all in the past, but it’s hard. There’s still a lot of work to do.’’

Tanya Broxton celebrates with family at Raekwon Jones' high school graduation party

The complete 'Florida Pipeline' series

Part 1, The Relationships: Indiana coaches have signed 25 players from Florida by making the state a go-to destination. CLICK HERE

Part 2, The Quarterback: How Michael Penix Jr., became a recruiting priority, and how Indiana got their man. CLICK HERE

Part 3: The Hurricane: Going through the pain of a major hurricane was made easier by being surrounded by so many Florida friends. CLICK HERE

Part 4: The Perception: The perception from Florida families and high school coaches is that Indiana is doing all the right things in recruiting Florida, and the results are obvious. CLICK HERE