Hurricane Michael quickly organized and quickly ran a path of destruction through several Florida cities. It’s too early to assess injuries or power outages as crews in many areas still can’t safely head out, but FEMA administrator Brock Long saying “this is a Gulf Coast hurricane of the worst kind.” The highest wind gusts registered just two miles under a category 5 hurricane.
Weather.com reports:
Hurricane Michael made landfall as a catastrophic, unprecedented Category 4 storm on the Florida Panhandle with a life-threatening storm surge and over 100 mph winds possible not just near the coast, but also inland that could leave some areas without power for over a week.
Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, around 12:30 p.m. CDT with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph and a minimum pressure of 919 millibars
NOAA adds:
Water levels at NOAA’s tide gauge in Apalachicola, Florida, have reached 7.72 ft above high tide from
#Michael. This breaks the record set in 2005 from Hurricane Dennis.
PANAMA CITY, FL
The Panama City News Herald writes:
Emergency services officials are starting to put together a plan for search and rescue. They will have very limited resources.
They will go door to door but it will take days to get to everyone.
If people are injured and trapped, they need to do something to make themselves more visible, like hang sheets out a window.
Schools are being set up as triage centers until the bridges are reopened.
New construction just collapsed in front of me in Panama City Beach from #hurricanemichael!!! It is going bad fast! pic.twitter.com/CG5R8jcUuf
— Marc Weinberg (@MarcWeinbergWX) October 10, 2018
There’s a lot of damage in Panama City, FL. #HurricaneMichael pic.twitter.com/c3Ik4R3ZRs
— Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) October 10, 2018
Video: Incredibly terrifying video as a portion of the hotel @ABC's @DavidMuir is broadcasting from collapsed on live TV….stay safe, David and team! #HurricaneMichael pic.twitter.com/wv7ZWBD0g2
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 10, 2018
MEXICO BEACH, FL
Damage now from the back side of our condo building in Mexico Beach. #Michael pic.twitter.com/BVAJfPFwkZ
— Ginger Zee (@Ginger_Zee) October 10, 2018
A look at what houses in #Mexico Beach, #Florida look like right now. This is a follow up from the previous clip posted. They are now submerged and were no match for #HurricaneMichael (via Tessa Talarico) #Hurricane #Michael #HurricaneMichael2018 pic.twitter.com/GJENrhFJha
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) October 10, 2018
APALACHICOLA, FL
“We’ve seen submerged vehicles. We’ve had dumpsters floating by us. We’ve had all kinds of debris… a little bit difficult to stand up in these conditions.”
CNN meteorologist @VanDamCNN in Apalachicola as Hurricane Michael approaches the coast.
Latest: https://t.co/N5t3IHLVLA pic.twitter.com/r2H1ukKpl0
— CNN (@CNN) October 10, 2018
The hurricane has weakened some, but is now moving north and still poses a lot of danger.
We expect hurricane force winds to enter into our community this evening between 4 and 10 p.m. Peak winds of 90 mph are expected near 7 p.m. Winds are not expected to weaken back down to tropical force winds until Thursday morning at 2 a.m. #MichaelTLH
— City of Tallahassee (@COTNews) October 10, 2018