Florida orders evacuation as monster storm approaches

Hurricane Michael strengthened into a Category 4 storm early on Wednesday before it was expected to plow into Florida’s Gulf shore with towering waves and roof-shredding winds as 500,000 people were under evacuation orders and advisories.

Hurricane Michael was packing winds of up to 210 kilometers per hour, hours before it was set to make landfall on Florida’s Panhandle or Florida’s Big Bend where it potentially could unleash devastating waves as high as 4 meters, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.

“THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE to evacuate before conditions start deteriorating within the next few hours,” said Florida Governor Rick Scott in a Tweet early on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Florida, freeing up federal assistance to supplement state and local disaster responses.

Michael gathered greater strength over warm Gulf of Mexico waters throughout the day on Tuesday as it jumped from a Category 2 to Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

Winds as strong as Michael is producing can inflict substantial damage to roofs and walls of even well-constructed homes, according to the National Weather Service.

NHC Director Ken Graham said Michael represented a “textbook case” of a hurricane system growing stronger as it drew near shore, in contrast to Hurricane Florence, which struck North Carolina last month after weakening in a slow, halting approach.