MANATEE COUNTY, Florida — As a Manatee County first responder, Adam Butler sees pain and destruction on a daily basis. 

"I lose sleep because I'm, like, 'What can I do for these people?'" said East Manatee firefighter Butler.

However, nothing could have prepared him for his five-day track around the Panhandle in the wake of Hurricane Michael.

"There was a house that was from one side of the road fully intact and it was sitting on the other side of the road," said Butler. 

Spectrum Bay News 9 crews met up with Butler as he was packing up donations last week. 

He said there was no plan once they got there. 

"We weren't sure if we were going to get through Mexico city Beach. They had National Guard blocking the area," Butler said.

They only had one goal — to give out every last water and battery from a truck.

 

 

"Neighborhood after neighborhood, for 10-12 hours straight. We actually went through almost 4,000 pounds of ice," Butler said. 

With each person they encountered, Butler explains it was story after story of survival.

"We found this guy that was blind by himself. He told me a story where him and his son were in a trailer and the roof started to shake real bad and he told him to get over here, and right before he did that a metal pole flew through their window and stuck through the side of their house," Butler said.

He is already anxious to get back to the Panhandle.

"Society is in a weird place right now," he said. "And I feel like just doing good things and giving back is what we should all be doing."