Some residents of a Gulf Coast beach community devastated by Hurricane Michael are telling harrowing tales of how they faced the storm and barely escaped.
Mexico Beach, Florida, is where the storm roared ashore Wednesday, smashing homes from their foundations, submerging residential streets and sending debris flying through the air.
Tom Garcia fought to keep the sliding doors of his beachfront home closed as the storm surge rose chest-high inside the house.
Hector Morales sits on a debris pile near his home which was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. "I have nothing else to do. I'm just waiting," said Morales as he wonders what he will do next. "I lost everything." (AP PhotoDavid Goldman)
Hector Morales fled his floating mobile home and took shelter with two neighbors in a fishing boat tied to a palm tree.
An 86-year-old named Bill Shockey watched with his cat from a second-floor bedroom of his daughter's house as water reached almost to the roofline of his own single-story home next door.
Garcia called it a "life or death" ordeal.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union.
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's government got backing in a 152-61 vote in the 250-member parliament. The remaining 37 lawmakers were absent.
The government includes former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has made several visits to Russia in recent months, as one of several vice-premiers, along with Nenad Popović, another Russia supporter who has faced U.S. sanctions.
The foreign minister in the previous government, Ivica Dačić, also a pro-Russia politician, will be in charge of the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet.
The vote followed a heated two-day debate. President Aleksandar Vučić's ruling nationalist conservative Serbian Progressive Party holds a comfortable majority after an election in December that fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities.
The increasingly authoritarian Vučić has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Serbia has condemned the aggression.
Vučević, the new prime minister, reiterated that Belgrade doesn't intend to impose sanctions on Russia and “cannot and will not give up" the friendship with Russia. Integration into the EU remains a ”strategic goal," Vucevic said.
"Best possible” relations with the U.S. also are in Serbia's interest, Vučević added. “I firmly believe that our relations can once again be on a high level.”
Security analyst and a Belgrade university professor Filip Ejdus described the new government's composition as a “spin" designed to send a message both to the West and Russia, and to voters at home.
“It sends a message to the EU that they should not push Belgrade too much over democracy, rule of law, or Kosovo if they want to keep Serbia in its orbit,” Ejdus said. “At the same time, it signals to Moscow a readiness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Russia.”
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin in July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.
Vulin, who in the past had served as both the army and police chief, has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the other was awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Popović, a businessman and a former government minister, has “used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders,” the U.S. Treasury said last November in a statement.
The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia's “malign” influence.
The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist.
Serbia's falling democracy record has pushed the country away from EU integration, explained Ejdus. Reports of election fraud at the Dec. 17 vote triggered street protests and clashes.
“Vučić is still pretending to be on the EU path because it’s beneficial for Serbia’s economy, and the EU tolerates his authoritarian tendencies out of fear of instability that could be caused in its backyard if Belgrade was lost to Russia and China,” Ejdus said.
Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, right, smiles during a parliament session while Serbia's prime minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Serbia's new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's former Prime Minister and Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic, left, speaks with Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, front, speaks with Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States at the parliament session during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, kisses Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic after taking the oath during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and ministers of the new government of Serbia read their oaths at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
