Ground zero: See the damage Hurricane Michael inflicted on Mexico Beach

MEXICO BEACH — Fires burn with no one to put them out. Cars and trucks stacked like toys. Stairs lead to houses that no longer exist. Trees bent over, as if trying to run from something.

Hurricane Michael slammed into North Florida on Wednesday with historic fury. The Category 4 storm is the most powerful storm on record to strike the Panhandle, blasting it with storm surge up to 10 feet and 155-mph winds — just two miles shy of Category 5 strength.

But one of the communities hit hardest was Mexico Beach, a town of about 1,100 near where the monster storm first made landfall.

The coastal village was struck by the notorious front right quadrant of the storm's eye, and it showed.

TAMPA BAY TIMES COVERAGE: HURRICANE MICHAEL

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The storm rendered the community near impassable. U.S. 98 was covered with shattered trees and debris. But a Tampa Bay Times reporter and photojournalist found a way into the devastated town in the early Thursday darkness.

This is what they saw:

Homes were completely destroyed. Refrigerators and toilets lay where the storm left them. The storm chewed up and spit out thousands of two-by-fours. Staircases led to doors 10 feet in the air with nothing left on the other side.

The neighborhoods along U.S. 98 looked like a child's playroom after a massive tantrum. Homes looked like doll houses, one side exposed to the elements. Soggy piles of furniture were pushed against the back walls.

Some residents tried to ride the storm out. A woman and man were looking for help with their mother's portable oxygen concentrator machine. A man shone a flashlight from a balcony. The town was rendered dark, saved for the fires, and silent, save for sporadic alarms.

One building burned to the ground. The sizzle of burning woods can be heard from the road, even over the waves crashing onto shore across the street.

Contact Zachary T. Sampson at zsampson@tampabay.com. Follow @ZackSampson.