By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
There are stories that seem almost too implausible to be believable.
They are often lumped into a general category: Fake news.
Mell Smigielski knows that some sets of facts, however, truly are beyond comprehension.
He has first-hand knowledge.
The former Mahomet Village Administrator has lived and worked in Florida since relocating from Champaign County in October 2014.
Specifically, he has been at Mexico Beach, Fla, as the city administrator.
That community of about 1,200 was in the news earlier this month when it took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, a Category 4 storm which was listed as the third strongest to ever make landfall in the United States.
“It is estimated that 80 to 85 percent of the structures in the city will have to come down,” Smigielski said.
A third-floor condo — in a building constructed in 2007 — owned by the Smigielskis sustained minimal damage from the Oct. 10 event, but that is only a minor part of his story.
“I started my current job in DeFuniak Springs (as city manager) one week before Hurricane Michael hit,” Smigielski said.
He is now working 85 miles away from his former community, in a larger town which is the county seat for Walton County.
“I just chalk it off to dumb luck,” Smigielski said.
Working in a larger community has its perks.
“It’s a more comfortable fit for me,” Smigielski said. “Over here, we have our own planning department.
“At Mexico Beach, I was the planner.”
His condo was not in a remote portion of Mexico Beach.
“Right across from the beach, in the main section,” Smigielski said.
DeFuniak Springs, meanwhile, was spared of most of the devastation.
“We had some wind damage and power poles down,” he said.
Though the timing seems incredible, the job was one he had been looking at for more than six weeks.
“I couldn’t have planned it any better,” Smigielski said.
The family didn’t need to evacuate from DeFuniak Springs. However, they were not even in the state when Hurricane Michael arrived.
“Our youngest son got married that Saturday (Oct. 13) in Wisconsin,” Smigielski said.
That son’s name?
“Michael,” Smigielski said.
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Smigielski was in Mahomet for eight years, replacing Terri Legner as Village Administrator.
He and his wife Beverly, are staying in a rental house in DeFuniak Springs, though they plan to keep the Mexico Beach condo.
If circumstances had been just a little different, he would not be resting as easy at night.
“Had I not (accepted the other job offer), we’d be homeless right now,” he said. “We can’t stay (in the condo) without water, electricity or sewer.”
Smigielski expects one positive outcome as his former city prepares to rebuild.
“The standards (for building codes) will be stricter,” he said, which means the cost for new construction will become more expensive.
A week after Hurricane Michael hit, the Smigielskis and others were allowed back into their former neighborhoods.
“The National Guard was there on the beach end of the city with armed rifles,” he said.
“There was debris and debris. Buildings and businesses were no longer there.”
He estimates “it will take weeks,” to haul away all the debris.
Some buildings have already been demolished.
The Smigielskis got a call from their bank, Centennial Bank, about picking up the contents of their lockbox.
The reason is that the bank building was scheduled to be torn down.
“It had sustained enough damage to the point it wasn’t worth fixing,” Smigielski said.
While Mell Smigielski is getting accustomed to his new job, his wife is temporarily not working.
Beverly Smigielski is a fourth-grade teacher in Tyndall, the home of an Air Force base. That community is just east of Panama City and sustained massive damage.
No decision has been made on when schools can reopen.
With the way his luck was going earlier this month, Mell Smigielski realizes there was more he could have done.
“People said I should have bought lottery tickets,” he said.
Smigielski knows where credit belongs for his recent good fortune.
“I look up to God and thank him,” he said.
