Life-threatening storm takes aim
Mass. volunteers assist in ‘chaos’
A team of Massachusetts Red Cross volunteers headed south yesterday to Florida to help tens of thousands of people threatened by Hurricane Michael, expected to hit the Panhandle and the Southeast today.
The Category 3 hurricane is expected to be life threatening with a storm surge as high as 12 feet in some places and winds as strong as 110 mph.
More than 20 million people in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina could be affected by the storm. Governors in both Florida and Alabama have declared states of emergency.
In Boston, Jeff Hall, 46, of Nashua, N.H., volunteered at the last minute to take a flight from Logan International Airport yesterday evening to help anticipated shelter victims in Tallahassee, Fla.
“I was asked this morning to go,” Hall told the Herald. “It’s a rush to get things together. Yesterday it was a small tropical storm. Now it is forecasted to be a Category 3. I’ll be one of the lucky ones. I know at the end of two weeks, I’ll be able to go home.”
Hall expected to land in Tallahassee at 11:30 last night to work at a shelter for displaced residents.
“I expect a little chaos,” Hall said. “I’m going to try to be open and take things as they come. I know they need workers in the shelter. It’s not a glamorous job. It’s going to be cleaning beds and making sure people are comfortable as they can be. They have it much worse. At least I’ll have a place to go home to.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned people to evacuate as the storm took aim at the Panhandle.
“I understand that evacuations are inconvenient, but this storm will bring torrential rain and heavy wind, along with dangerous storm surge throughout the panhandle,” Scott tweeted yesterday. “If you have been told to leave, you need to go. It could be the difference between life and death.”
“I cannot emphasize enough,” Scott added. “Hurricane Michael is forecast to be the most destructive storm to hit the FL panhandle in decades. It will be life-threatening and extremely dangerous. You cannot hide from this storm. You can rebuild your home, you cannot rebuild your life.”
Forecasters said it could bring 3 to 6 inches of rain to Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, triggering flash flooding in a corner of the country still recovering from Florence.
“I know people are fatigued from Florence, but don’t let this storm catch you with your guard down,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. “A number of homes have rooftop tarps that could be damaged or blown away with this wind.”
Residents rushed to board up their homes and sandbag their properties against the hurricane.
“We don’t know if it’s going to wipe out our house or not,” Jason McDonald, of Panama City, Fla., said as he and his wife drove north into Alabama with their two children, ages 5 and 7. “We want to get them out of the way.”