Local divorce rates flat five months after Michael

March 24-- Mar. 24--PANAMA CITY -- After a natural disaster, people expect the divorce rate to rise in a community.

It seems only natural that all of the new stresses -- repairing broken homes, financial issues, more extreme feelings -- would weigh on a marriage and possibly break it. After all "your whole world is upside down," Logan Kirksey, a marriage ministry specialist said.

Looking at five months of data since the Hurricane Michael, at least so far, divorce rates have stayed the same in Bay County. Between October 2017 and the end of February 2018, there were 403 dissolutions of marriages and simplified dissolutions. Over that same period in 2018 into 2019, there were 359, a slight decrease.

It's worth noting the court system was closed for a stretch of this time due to storm damage and people have moved, both factors that could have skewed the numbers.

"I do (think a rise in divorces is coming)," said David Smith, the owner of Sand Oak Divorce Solutions. "I really do. The first few months, people are literally blown away or picked up and left which is probably why rates are steady."

But once things settle, Smith believes more people will start assessing their marriages, and research into past storms shows the spike is often near immediate.

After Hurricane Andrew there was a sharp spike, 30 percent, in the divorce rate in Dade County in the first two months. In a story written by the Tampa Bay Times for the 25th anniversary, they quoted Florida International University researcher Lilia Cunningham, saying that it was the influx of money that caused it.

"These marriages already were in trouble and all of a sudden they had $60,000 or $80,000," said Cunningham to the Times. "It was easier to split the money in half than to fix the marriage."

Then, the divorce rate leveled off.

A few years earlier, when Hurricane Hugo impacted South Carolina, an uptick of divorces -- 30 per 100,000 resident, according to studies -- was noted for one year and then dropped off. After Hurricane Katrina, the same one year tick was documented in New Orleans and then disappeared.

Once again, social researchers documented a similar phenomenon to what was seen after Andrew. It wasn't necessarily stress driving the situation, but often the chance at a clean slate played a role.

Ray Cannata, a pastor that counseled couples after New Orleans, said in an often cited 2010 article by the Daily Beast the storm was almost a truth serum, and it was mostly couples who were already mismatched and with issues that he saw split, taking the chance to just move on like the people after Andrew with their new hurricane nest-egg did.

Potential Resources

Whether this all happens here remains to be seen, but locally people are preparing resources to help couples either work through it if they want to stay together or get through the divorce if they feel they would be happier apart.

Knowing it's a stressful time for relationships, Kirksey, with the religious affiliate marriage organization Live the Life, said his group is planning two seminars in the area in April, one at St. Andrews Baptist Church on April 5 and 6 and one at the Ark Chapel in Panama City Beach on April 12 and 13.

"There's a lot of stress and it brought out issues that were lying dormant and have been exposed," Kirksey said. "You're forced to live in a cramped camper or move to a new place every month and you can't get back to normal."

The $90 classes -- which take the stance "the grass is greener where you water it" -- are meant to teach coping mechanisms to help people get back on their feet.

When it can't be worked out, there are other resources in the community to help make the divorce go more smoothly. Smith, with Sand Oaks, is a financial analyst in mediator that focuses on creating a "kinder, gentler, smarter" divorce, he said, where it can be possible to maintain a cordial relationship.

One of the most complicated and earliest steps is the financial discovery, determining what is owned and owed.

"Some people freeze like a deer in the headlights," he said.

Bringing someone such as Smith in early can help navigate that step and then help avoid potential mistakes that will cost separating couples in taxes or penalties and then make sure the plan ultimately agreed upon is held up and "not put on a shelf," Smith said. He can also help direct people toward other resources.

Another resource in the area is meant to help people tackle one of the most challenging aspects in a divorce -- what happens to the house.

"It's not just who wants it and a column on a spread sheet," said Jan Johnson, a real estate collaboration specialist in divorce. "There's a lot that goes into it."

Johnson, with Full Sail Realty, is the only real estate agent in Northwest Florida that has the RCS-D designation, and said she's starting to see more clients since Hurricane Michael, including couples fighting over insurance checks.

With her services, she helps people make sure they get "all the questions answered" such as the insurance, the value and condition, and what the expenses might be. If people decide they want to sell after a free consultation with her, she can also help with that.

"Really consider what's in the best interest of the house and the family," said Johnson, who often speaks to groups about this. "A lot of people need a clean start. No matter what the condition of the house, there is a market.

"Everything is on the market, houses that need to be torn down, houses that weren't touched," she continued. "It's a sellers market. They can take the stress of fixing it off their plate."

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