WAAO began collecting supplies for storm victims when the sun came up Thursday morning.

Station owner Blaine Wilson said he has pinpointed an area south of Marianna, at Claksville, which is near Altha, for delivery.

“Andrea’s brother, Jacob Beam, who from Andalusia, and his wife live there,” Wilson said Wednesday night. “Jacob is a state firefighter for Florida Forestry, and couldn’t leave, and his wife’s a teacher.

“In their immediate area, his in-laws lost a home, two barns and a travel trailer,” Wilson said. “Another neighbor lost a home and a barn. The country store up the road where they got supplies is gone. The eye of the storm went just west of them, so they got the entire eastern eye wall. Jacob’s seeing daylight through his roof.”

Wilson said he wanted to focus on the area because of the personal connection, and because he feels most people will concentrate recovery areas on the more densely populated areas, like Panama City and Mexico Beach.

“I feel like rural Florida will be forgotten,” he said.

The radio station will begin collecting supplies in the lobby, and will make other accommodations if necessary.

They are accepting emergency supplies, non-perishable foods, water, colers, charcoal, new packages of socks, T-shirts or underwear, cleaning supplies, beef jerky, canned goods, paper products and batteries.