Hurricane set to wreak havoc in Florida Panhandle

FLORIDA was last night battered by winds of 155mph as Hurricane Michael as made landfall and brought the potential for devastating flooding.

The Category 4 hurricane was the worst to hit the Florida Panhandle, an area of beaches, fishing towns and military bases in the north-west of the state, since records began in 1851.

Michael was expected to bring a foot of rain and a storm surge of up to 14ft.

More than 375,000 people along the coast were warned to evacuate, but many stayed behind.

Donald Trump said it was “very sad” that some areas in the storm’s path were beset by poverty, and many people were “unable” to evacuate, adding: “You have people that are stuck, they’re just stuck there.”

The US president declared a state of emergency for Florida, freeing up government money for the disaster response. A total of 2,500 National Guard troops were deployed to the area, and 4,000 more were on standby, along with 17,000 workers who will help to restore power.

The storm made landfall near Panama City in the Panhandle yesterday afternoon, ripping off roofs and bending metal railings.

Rick Scott, Florida’s governor, said on Twitter: “This is a horrible, horrible storm. I am scared to death for people who didn’t evacuate.”

Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, said: “There is going to be a killer, a killer storm surge in this event. Nine, 10, 11ft. No one is going to survive that. The Gulf of Mexico is kind of like a basin of water, all being pushed up on people, and if you’re still there when that comes in, you’re going to die.”

Meteorologists said the way Michael had developed, its wind speeds increasing by 50 per cent in one 24-hour period, had been “jaw-dropping”.

Dennis Feltgen, of the National Hurricane Centre, said: “We are in new territory. The historical record, going back to 1851, finds no Category 4 hurricane ever hitting the Panhandle.”