Michael grows to Category 3
Drawing energy from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the storm strengthened rapidly
TALLAHASSEE – A fast and furious Hurricane Michael sped toward the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday night with 120 mph winds and a potential storm surge of 13 feet, giving tens of thousands of people precious little time to get out or board up.
Drawing energy from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the storm strengthened rapidly into a potentially devastating Category 3 and was getting much better organized after nightfall. Forecasters said Michael could be near a very dangerous Category 4 by landfall, with further strengthening expected overnight.
It was expected to blow ashore around midday Wednesday near Panama City Beach, along a
lightly populated stretch of fishing villages and whitesand spring-break beaches.
While Florence took five days between the time it turned into a hurricane and the moment it rolled into the Carolinas, Michael gave Florida what amounted to two days' notice. It developed into a hurricane on Monday, and by Tuesday, more than 180,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders.
"We don't know if it's going to wipe out our house or not," Jason McDonald, of Panama City, 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."
Coastal residents rushed to board up their homes and stock up on bottled water and other supplies.
As of 8 p.m., Michael was 255 miles south of Panama City, speeding north at 12 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended outward 45 miles from its center.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned it was a “monstrous hurricane,” and his Democratic opponent for the Senate, Sen. Bill Nelson, said a “wall of water” could cause destruction along the Panhandle.
"Don't think that you can ride this out if you're in a low-lying area," Nelson said on CNN.
Scott, who has issued a state of emergency, said he’s coordinating with state and local officials to accommodate evacuees from coastal areas. He said the storm surge was his biggest concern.
“Michael is a massive storm that could bring total devastation to parts of our state, especially in the Panhandle,” Scott said. “Eight to 12 feet of storm surge is deadly . . . absolutely deadly.”
Scott, though, said there weren’t “widespread fuel shortages” and encouraged those under evacuation orders to leave earlier rather than later.
“If you are in an evacuation order, leave. Don’t wait,” Scott said. “This storm can kill you.”
He also stressed that the storm could affect areas far from the spot it makes landfall. Sustained winds of 75 miles per hour could sweep into Pensacola on the west and Tallahassee on the east, and “life-threatening” storm surge could affect the Tampa Bay area, he said.
But some officials were worried by what they weren't seeing — a rush of evacuees.
"I am not seeing the level of traffic on the roadways that I would expect when we've called for the evacuation of 75 percent of this county," Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said.
Aja Kemp, 36, planned to stay in her mobile home in Crawfordville. She worked all night stocking shelves at a big-box store that was closing later Tuesday, then got to work securing her yard.
Kemp said the bill totaled over $800 when she and her family fled Hurricane Irma's uncertain path last year.
"I just can't bring myself to spend that much money," she said. "We've got supplies to last us a week. Plenty of water. I made sure we've got clean clothes. We got everything tied down."
In the dangerously exposed coastal town of Apalachicola, population 2,500, Sally Crown planned to go home and hunker down with her two dogs.
"We've been through this before," she said. "This might be really bad and serious. But in my experience, it's always blown way out of proportion."
Mandatory evacuation orders went into effect in Panama City Beach and other low-lying areas in the storm's path. That included Pensacola Beach but not in Pensacola itself, a city of about 54,000.
Forecasters said parts of the Panhandle and Florida's marshy, lightly populated Big Bend area — the crook of Florida's elbow — could see 9 to 13 feet of storm surge.
About 20 miles in from the coast, in Tallahassee, the state capital, people rushed to fill their gas tanks and grab supplies. Many gas stations had run out of fuel, including the Quick 'N' Save, which was also stripped clean of bottled water and down to about two dozen bags of ice.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Florida's Democratic nominee for governor, helped people fill sandbags.
Several people were taken by van from coastal Wakulla County to Tallahassee's Leon County to the north. Wakulla County's shelters are not considered reliable against storms stronger than a Category 2.
Annette Strickland, 75, arrived at a Tallahassee high school. While glad to have a safe place to ride out the storm, she wasn't happy that her home county couldn't provide shelter.
"I feel like that they should've provided something," she said. "That's just me. I don't want to be ugly."
Michael could dump up to a foot of rain over some Panhandle communities before its remnants go back out to sea by way of the midAtlantic states over the next few days.
The storm caused havoc in the Caribbean.
In Cuba, it dropped more than 10 inches of rain in places, flooding fields, damaging roads, knocking out power and destroying some homes in the western province of Pinar del Rio. Cuban authorities said they evacuated about 400 people from low-lying areas.
Disaster agencies in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua reported 13 deaths as roofs collapsed and residents were carried away by swollen rivers.
In Central Florida, bands of scattered showers and some rough surf will be the extent of the impacts as Michael closes in, according to Weather Service forecasters. Thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 40 mph are also possible.