A drone's-eye-view of Florida Panhandle desolation after Hurricane Michael

After Michael, the skies cleared and the Gulf waters calmed once again. But the full extent of the devastation wrought by the Category 4 storm -- the pain, sadness and wreckage -- is only now coming to light.

Tampa Bay Times photographer Bronte Wittpenn sent a camera-equipped drone over the area of Michael's ground zero -- Mexico Beach, Florida -- on Friday, October 12, and Saturday, October 13, to let the world see the damage the hurricane inflicted on the region, its people and their way of life.