Hurricane closes in on Panhandle
Fla. braces for Michael
MIAMI — Residents of Florida’s Panhandle frantically filled sandbags, boarded up homes and secured boats in harbors yesterday as they anxiously awaited Hurricane Michael, which forecasters warned could smash into the northeast Gulf Coast as a dangerous major hurricane within days.
Fueled by warm tropical waters, fast-strengthening Michael could gain major hurricane status with winds topping 111 mph before its anticipated landfall tomorrow on the Panhandle or Big Bend area of Florida, forecasters have warned.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott called Michael a “monstrous hurricane” with devastating potential from high winds, storm surge and heavy rains.
He declared a state of emergency for 35 Florida counties from the Panhandle to Tampa Bay, activated hundreds of Florida National Guard members and waived tolls to encourage those close to the coast to evacuate inland.
In the small Panhandle city of Apalachicola, Mayor Van Johnson Sr. said the 2,300 residents are frantically preparing for a major strike.
“We’re looking at a significant storm with significant impact, possibly greater than I’ve seen in my 59 years of life,” he said of the city, which sits on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet to the Gulf of Mexico famed for producing about 90 percent of Florida’s oysters.
By evening, lines had formed at gas stations and grocery stores as people sought emergency supplies even as the anticipated evacuations would be intensifying in coming hours. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for residents of barrier islands, mobile homes and low-lying coastal areas in Gulf, Wakulla and Bay counties.
In a Facebook post, the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office said no shelters would be open because Wakulla County shelters were rated safe only for hurricanes with top sustained winds below 111 mph. With Michael’s winds projected to be even stronger than that, Wakulla County residents were urged to evacuate inland.
“This storm has the potential to be a historic storm, please take heed,” the sheriff’s office said in the post.
High winds weren’t the only danger. Parts of Florida’s curvy Big Bend could see up to 12 feet of storm surge, while Michael also could dump up to a foot of rain over some Panhandle communities as it moves inland, forecasters said.
By 5 p.m. yesterday, Michael’s top sustained winds were about 80 mph as it headed north at 9 mph. The storm was centered about 30 miles off the western tip of Cuba, and about 520 miles south of Apalachicola. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the core and tropical-storm-force winds out up to 175 miles.
Michael was lashing western Cuba yesterday with heavy rains and strong winds. Forecasters warned that the storm could potentially trigger flash floods and mudslides in mountainous areas.
Since the storm will spend two to three days over the Gulf of Mexico, which has warm water and favorable atmospheric conditions, “there is a real possibility that Michael will strengthen to a major hurricane before landfall,” Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist at the Miami-based storm forecasting hub, wrote in an advisory.