Biohazard Cleanup Near Sunset Pointe Mexico Beach, FL

Mexico Beach is a tiny Gulf Coast city in Bay County, about 25 miles southeast of Panama City on Florida's 'Forgotten Coast', with a population of just 916 at the 2020 census.

The community began in 1946, when a group of local businessmen including Gordon Parker, W.T. McGowan and J.W. Wainright bought 1,850 acres of beachfront and began development; it incorporated as a city in 1967.

Development of Mexico Beach was spurred by the completion of U.S. Highway 98 in the 1930s and the construction of Tyndall Field in 1941, and the Mexico Beach Canal was finished in 1955 to give boaters quick access to the Gulf.

On October 10, 2018, Mexico Beach was ground zero for Hurricane Michael, which made landfall nearby as a Category 5 storm with winds over 160 mph and a storm surge of about 14 feet.

FEMA declared the community effectively 'wiped out' after Michael - about 85% of the city's homes were damaged and the vast majority of those destroyed - and the population fell from 1,072 in 2010 to 916 in 2020 as rebuilding slowly continued.

Mexico Beach had been hit by a hurricane's eye before: Hurricane Kate passed directly over the town on November 22, 1985.

Mexico Beach sits at the west end of Florida's 'Forgotten Coast', a stretch of shoreline that has stayed low-rise and undeveloped compared with the high-rise condo coasts elsewhere in the state - it is known for its white-sand beaches, emerald Gulf water and quiet, old-Florida character.