MONSTROUS MICHAEL SLAMS FLA. PANHANDLE
The most cataclysmic cyclone to wallop the Florida Panhandle in 167 years of recorded weather came ashore yesterday afternoon, lashing the Gulf Coast with winds of up to 155 mph and an “absolutely deadly” storm surge of up to 14 feet that National Hurricane Center director Ken Graham predicted could topple buildings and knock out power to the region for weeks.
With maximum sustained winds just 2 mph shy of a Category 5 catastrophe, Hurricane Michael “is unprecedented, it’s historic and it’s extremely lifethreatening,” Graham said. One hurricane-related death was reported in the Florida Panhandle as of last night.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who declared a state of emergency as early as Monday, implored those who had not evacuated to shelter in place as National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini declared via social media, “THIS IS A WORST CASE SCENARIO,” for the Sunshine State.
“There’s nothing our state cannot recover from, because there is no state that cares, loves, or comes together like Florida,” Scott tweeted.
While communities were reporting emergency shelters filling quickly, Scott said state officials preloaded trucks with 1.5 million ready-to-eat meals and 1 million gallons of water. Meanwhile, the Florida Highway Patrol committed 600 troopers to assisting with the storm’s aftermath.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Beverly-based Massachusetts Task Force 1 Ur-
ban Search and Rescue Team, fresh off 15 days of emergency response in Hurricane Florenceravaged North Carolina last month, had not yet been activated to report to Florida as of yesterday afternoon.
No flights to or from Logan International Airport were immediately impacted by Michael, according to live flight tracker FlightAware. But the Tallahassee International and DestinFort Walton Beach airports both closed yesterday.
The Florida Department of Corrections evacuated a halfdozen satellite facilities, community work release centers and work camps in the path of Michael “in an abundance of caution.” Inmates were relocated to main institutions.
Not evacuated was the Northwest Florida Reception Center in Chipley, Fla., just north of Panama City and ground zero for where Michael’s eyewall was forecast to strike.
The prison is where former FBI Boston Special Agent John J. Connolly has been serving a 40year sentence for second-degree murder for the 1982 gangland slaying of Boston businessman John Callahan.
Graham said Floridians were facing double trouble from the Panhandle’s coastline trapping the water that comes ashore and the shallow nature of the Gulf basin, which would push storm surges higher.
He said Michael would maintain hurricane-force strength even as it pushed inland last night, dumping torrential rain on Alabama and Georgia.
Blake Parsons, 24, left his apartment Tuesday a mile from Panama City Beach with his dog, Loki, and cat, Max, and drove four hours east to Lake City to stay with a family friend.
“I’ve been in Florida my whole life, and I just realized that in the gulf, the waters are warm, and there were no cold fronts coming through or land to break up the storm,” he said. “It was just going to continue to grow.”
By yesterday, Parsons had seen footage of trees and billboards blown down and one new building toppled completely near the beach. But he plans to head home this morning to see the damage for himself. “I’m just hoping for the best,” he said.