FLORIDA — Many are watching Hurricane Michael as it drives down the Panhandle and moves inland towards Georgia.
Category 4 Hurricane Michael has captivated many with the level of intensity it quickly built up. The first signs of the intensifying low pressure were noticed by the Global Precipitation Measurement mission on October 5, 2018.
The storm quickly started to gain shape and form into a Category 2 Hurricane a mere four days after its discovery.
On October 10, 2018 Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, shortly before 1 p.m. with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, this is the first time on record that a Category 4 Hurricane has ever struck the Big Bend area of Florida’s coast. AccuWeather Vice President of Forecasting and Graphics Operations Marshall Moss says, “Michael is a historic storm. A Category 4 hurricane has never struck that part of Florida. The coastline will be changed for decades.”
Over much of Florida’s northern Gulf Coast, mandatory evacuations have been issued and are in full effect.
The counties that are experiencing mandatory evacuations are Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Levy, Okaloosa, Taylor, Wakulla, and Walton.
Other counties such as Calhoun and Escambia are only on Voluntary or Phased orders, but should still be considered as a viable option.
According to AccuWeather, more than 600,000 customers across Florida and Georgia are without power due to the continuing impact of Michael.
As of October 11, 2018, at 2 a.m., Hurricane Michael is currently passing through central Georgia and has dropped down to a tropical storm. With wind gusts of 60 mph, the storm continues to pass through Georgia with current predictions from the National Weather Service saying that it will hit 260 miles west-southwest of Myrtle Beach Carolina.