Portion of St. Andrews State Park campground reopened after damage from Hurricane Michael

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Ohio residents Mark and Taylor Thorne love going camping. They drive down to the panhandle just to go to St. Andrews State Park campgrounds in Bay County. Although, after the camping facility sustained damage from Hurricane Michael in 2018, it was temporarily closed.

“We were actually here when the hurricane hit and we had to evacuate,” Mark said.

On Thursday, another portion of the site was restored.

“We’ve been able to reopen 60 sites in this first phase, and then we introduced our second phase around 20 sites,” St. Andrews State Park Assistant Manager Amber Rounseville said.

This was made possible through a $60,000 grant from the St. Joe Community Foundation and partnership with the Florida State Parks Foundation. The rebuilding included new updates including an activities pavilion, restroom facilities, a fire circle, and benches. Officials said they’re also taking proper measurements to protect the campground during storms.

“We’ve been able to excavate to bring up the camp site so flooding’s not going to be an issue like it used to be in the old campsites,” Rounseville said.

Now, Mark and Taylor get to start new traditions with their newborn baby boy, Witt.

“We’ve got a three month old son so we’re trying to start these traditions with him.”

Park officials said a final completion date is not yet set. For more information on the campground, visit https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/st-andrews-state-park/hours-fees

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