Hurricane slams Fla., charges into Georgia
Most powerful storm to hit the continental U.S. in nearly 50 years causes at least one death in Florida Panhandle
PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle with terrifying winds of 155 mph Wednesday, splintering homes and submerging neighborhoods before continuing its destructive march inland across the Southeast. It was the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental U.S. in nearly 50 years, and at least one death was reported during its passage.
Supercharged by abnormally warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Category 4 storm crashed ashore in the early afternoon near Mexico Beach, a tourist town about midway along the Panhandle, a 200-mile stretch of white-sand beach resorts, fishing towns and military bases. After it ravaged the Panhandle, Michael entered southern Georgia as a Category 3 hurricane — the most powerful in recorded history for that part of Georgia. It later weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, and there were reports it spawned possible tornadoes in central Georgia
In northern Florida, Michael battered the shoreline with sideways rain, powerful gusts and crashing waves, swamping streets and docks, flattening trees,
stripping away leaves, shredding awnings and peeling away shingles. It also set off transformer explosions and knocked out power to more than 388,000 homes and businesses.
A Panhandle man was killed by a tree toppling onto a home, Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Anglie Hightower said. She said authorities got a call Wednesday evening that the man was trapped but rescue crews were hampered by downed trees and debris blocking roadways. Authorities didn’t release the man’s name.
Damage in Panama City was extensive, with broken and uprooted trees and power lines down nearly everywhere. Roofs were peeled off and homes split open by fallen trees. Residents emerged in the early evening to assess damage when rains stopped.
Vance Beu, 29, was staying with his mother at her apartment in Spring Gate Apartments, a small complex of single-story wood frame apartment buildings. A pine tree punched a hole in their roof, and he said the roar of the storm sounded like a jet engine as the winds accelerated. Their ears even popped as the barometric pressure dropped.
“It was terrifying, honestly. There was a lot of noise. We thought the windows were going to break at any time. We had the inside windows kind of barricaded in with mattresses,” Beu said.
Kaylee O’Brien was crying as she sorted through the remnants of the apartment she shared with three roommates at Whispering Pines Apartments, where the smell of broken pine trees was thick in the air.
Four pine trees had crashed through the roof of her apartment, nearly hitting two people. She was missing her 1-year-old Siamese cat, Molly.
“We haven’t seen her since the tree hit the den. She’s my baby,” O’Brien said, her face wet with tears.
Gov. Rick Scott said soon after the eye had swept inland that “aggressive” search and rescue efforts were just beginning and urged people to stay off debrislittered roads.
“If you and your family made it through the storm safely, the worst thing you could do now is act foolishly,” he said.
At the White House, President Donald Trump said, “God bless everyone because it’s going to be a rough one,” he said. “A very dangerous one.” His office said he would tour the devastated areas next week.
Michael was a meteorological brute that sprang quickly from a weekend tropical depression, going from Category 2 on Tuesday to a Category 4 by the time it came ashore. It was the most powerful hurricane on record to hit the Panhandle.
More than 375,000 people along the Gulf Coast were urged to evacuate as Michael closed in. But the fast-moving, fast-strengthening storm didn’t give people much time to prepare, and emergency authorities lamented that many ignored the warnings and seemed to think they could ride it out.
“While it might be their constitutional right to be an idiot, it’s not their right to endanger everyone else!” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson tweeted.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 45 miles from Michael’s center at the height of the storm. Forecasters said rainfall could reach up to a foot in spots. And then there was the life-threatening storm surge to deal with.
A water-level station in Apalachicola, close to where Michael came ashore, reported a surge of nearly 8 feet.
Based on its internal barometric pressure, Michael was the third-most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland, behind the unnamed Labor Day storm of 1935 and Camille in 1969. Based on wind speed, it was the fourth strongest, behind the Labor Day storm, Camille and Andrew in 1992.
Meteorologists watched satellite imagery in awe as the storm intensified.
“We are in new territory,” National Hurricane Center Meteorologist Dennis Feltgen wrote on Facebook. “The historical record, going back to 1851, finds no Category 4 hurricane ever hitting the Florida panhandle.”
The storm is likely to fire up the debate over climate change.
Scientists say global warming is responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme weather, such as storms, droughts, floods and fires.
But without extensive study, they cannot directly link a single weather event to the changing climate.
With Election Day less than a month away, the crisis was seen as a test of leadership for Scott, a Republican running for the Senate, and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor. Just as Northern politicians are judged on how they handle snowstorms, their Southern counterparts are watched closely for how they deal with hurricanes.
Only a skeleton staff remained at Tyndall Air Force Base, near Panama City. Hundreds of military families were moved out, and the base’s aircraft were flown hundreds of miles away.
In St. Marks, John Hargan and his family gathered up their pets and moved to a raised building constructed to withstand a Category 5 after water from the St. Marks River began surrounding their home.