What made the Panhandle happier after Hurricane Michael? A convoy of Publix trucks

After a hurricane blasts an area the way Hurricane Michael did the Florida Panhandle, signs of normalcy can engender warm feelings usually associated with teddy bears and hot meals.

The sign for Tallahassee resident Ralph Aspach was a 10-truck convoy barreling down U.S. 231 toward Panama City bearing the logo of Publix.

Aspach said in a Facebook video caption, “We were on the way to Panama City to help some friends clear trees and we saw some depressing damage, but this convoy lifted our spirits! #Publix #HurricaneMichael”

You can hear the joy in his deep voice as he says, “Here they come ... best convoy known to mankind is coming over the hill ... Publix is here! ... here come all of our Scooby Snacks ... pretty cool.”

According to a Publix spokesman, the truck carried no snacks, but the most practical of goods — five trucks of gallon jugs of water, five trucks with 10-pound bags of ice.

Aspach clearly isn’t alone in getting the warm fuzzies from the stream of trucks with the Lakeland-based supermarket chain’s name and logo. His video has been shared almost 63,000 times on Facebook alone.

Publix shared Aspach’s video on Facebook with, “Thank you, Ralph, for helping others. It’s our pleasure to be there for our communities in times of need.”

Publix store hours in hurricane-affected regions can be found here. Cash donations can be made at any Publix.

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 12:55 PM.