Devastated Mexico Beach Finds Reasons to Be Thankful; A Ferry Carrying 53 People Crashes in San Francisco.
SAVIDGE: Yes, take a look at these pictures now coming in to us from California.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!</s>SAVIDGE: A ferry carrying 53 people crashed into a dock in San Francisco, it yesterday. Officials say two people on board suffered minor injuries.</s>PAUL: And both the ferry and the dock were damaged, and you could hear it there, authorities are investigating the cause of that crash. It's been more than a month since Hurricane Michael nearly wiped Mexico Beach, Florida off the map. There are so many people, they couldn't have Thanksgiving at home because they didn't have a home there anymore.</s>SAVIDGE: But I found that despite all of the hardship, people in Mexico Beach have found reason to be thankful this holiday season. Thanks in part to a couple of men who took it upon themselves to make every day like Thanksgiving.</s>MICHAEL SCOGGINS, CO-OWNER, KILLER SEAFOOD: There was a building here, I promise. It was called Killer Seafood.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been more than a month since the hurricane obliterated Mexico Beach.</s>SCOGGINS: Here you would be inside the building --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But as Michael Scoggins shows me what it used to be, his restaurant, it's obvious the pain is still fresh.</s>SCOGGINS: An open kitchen where everybody could see what was going on.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killer Seafood, a town favorite for years is gone. Hal Summers was general manager. He lost his job and his home. Both then could have wallowed in self-pity and left town, instead they decided to help the only way they could -- they cooked. In a Church parking lot amidst the roar of generators and the smoke of a grill, they began feeding first responders and residents three times a day.</s>HAL SUMMERS, GENERAL MANAGER, KILLER SEAFOOD: Chicken tomatoes, corn, of course --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven days a week for free. They call it Camp Happy Tummies. Fueled by donations it provides one of the greatest comforts in dark times, a hot meal.</s>SUMMERS: This is my planning menu. And this is the way</s>I - UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your menu right here, it was --</s>SUMMERS: Yes --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's another one on parchment papers --</s>SUMMERS: That is parchment paper.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But over the weeks, this town has come to mean much more than a meal.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a safe place to cry, safe place to let your feelings out.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody has a feeling that they're all together and we're all in this together.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At these tables, they have prayed, mourned the dead, even held a wedding reception. Hal and Michael baked the wedding cake. This is a place where folks temporarily escape what lies just outside. Crews are making progress cleaning up. And power, sewage and water are all making a comeback. But there is still one staggering figure. At least 75 percent of the homes in Mexico Beach have been destroyed. Camp Happy Tummies is closing, most of the first responders are gone, and food in Mexico Beach is easier to find. Is there a reason to be thankful in Mexico Beach?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, definitely --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even with all of the destruction and all that's been lost?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're still here.</s>SUMMERS: So we have a lot to be thankful for. We have our lives and we can rebuild, it's just going to take time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A month after the hurricane, people here have stopped looking for reasons to be sad. Instead, they're finding reasons to rejoice. Look at that --</s>SCOGGINS: There you go, yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be grateful.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a beautiful place, and it will come back.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's still Paradise.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And instead of looking back, they're looking forward. In Mexico Beach, they've come to learn that every day is Thanksgiving Day.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you all so much.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're really welcome.</s>SAVIDGE: And an amazing -- it is amazing, the goodwill that people have shown there in that community despite losing just about everything they have. They now have this attitude of hey, we're all in this together, we will rebuild, it's going to take some time, but they believe their community is just as great as it ever was.</s>PAUL: And it's really meaningful to other people to see that, not just that healing, but that rebuilding together. I mean, that matters, so that's going to be interesting to see what they're --</s>SAVIDGE: Will --</s>PAUL: Capable of doing and we're wishing the best for them certainly.