Pensacola Beach on the rebound from ruin | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal

Pensacola Beach on the rebound from ruin | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal: "Emily Strong Paz was among the last to evacuate Pensacola Beach before Hurricane Ivan bore down on Sept. 16, 2004, packing steady 120-mph winds and a storm surge of 10 to 15 feet.

Taking only what she was able to squeeze into friends' and relatives' cars, Paz locked the door on her 1950s cinder-block home.

She expected to return, shovel out some sand and resume her dream life on Pensacola Beach.

"My house had survived every other hurricane," she said.

But Hurricane Ivan was not "every other hurricane.""