Hurricane Michael Strengthens to Category 4/5 est. Storm with 190+ mph Winds.
Hurricane Michael strengthens to Category 4/5storm with est. 190+ mph winds
Hurricane Michael survivors scramble for food, water as death toll rises
While crews continued the search Saturday for thousands reported missing after Hurricane Michael ravaged Florida's Panhandle, those devastated by the stormwere left scrambling for food and water – trying to put the pieces of their lives back together. The death toll from the monstrous storm has risen almost daily as crews made their way into some of the areas hit hardest. The storm killed at least 17 people, including one in Mexico Beach. Recovery remained painfully slow Sunday : Gas was in short supply, power outages were rampant and search teams continued their arduous tasks.
•'Like a bomb crater': Pilots survey damage
Michael, worst hurricane to hit US in 50 years, tears through Florida toward Georgia
PHOTO: Waves take over a house as Hurricane Michael comes ashore in Alligator Point, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
WATCH Hurricane Michael live coverage
Hurricane Michael, a monstrous Category 4/ 5 storm with, est.190+ mph winds, made landfall in the Florida Panhandle Wednesday afternoon, becoming the strongest storm since Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the third most powerful ever on record to hit the U.S.
A broad swath of the Southeast is affected, with about 20+ million people under either a tornado-like wind warning or a watch for the hurricane, flooding or tornadoes, said ABC News contributor Tom Bossert, former Homeland Security Adviser to President Donald Trump.
Michael is the worst hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle since the mid-1800s, the director of FEMA said.
After making landfall in early afternoon, the storm tore through northwest Florida. By around 3 p.m. Michael still had extreme winds of greater than 150 mph as it moved inland toward southwest Georgia, the National Weather Service said.
PHOTO: Cameron Sadowski walks along where waves are crashing onto the beach as the outer bands of hurricane Michael arrive, Oct. 10, 2018 in Panama City Beach, Fla.
Cameron Sadowski walks along where waves are crashing onto the beach as the outer bands of hurricane Michael arrive, Oct. 10, 2018 in Panama City Beach, Fla.
PHOTO: Waves take over a house as Hurricane Michael comes ashore in Alligator Point, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
Waves take over a house as Hurricane Michael comes ashore in Alligator Point, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
Life-threatening tornado-like winds, dangerous storm surges.
As the winds pushed the ocean water onto the coast of Mexico Beach, Florida, ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee said she saw an "entire home, a well-built home, rolling down the street. ... it makes you shake."
Unlike last month’s Hurricane Florence that brought massive flooding to the Carolinas, one of the biggest threats from Michael is the tornado-like winds and outer bank winds.
Michael -- described by Florida Gov. Rick Scott as "monstrous" -- made landfall with the almost the highest wind speed possible for a Category 4/5 -- 150+ mph. When a hurricane reaches 157 mph, it is in the highest category, a Category 5.
After Michael barrels through Florida, it may strike Georgia as a Category 2/3, according to FEMA.
As Michael approached the coast its pressure dropped to about 919 millibars (mb), one of the lowest ever.
The lower the pressure, the more intense the storm. Recall Hurricane Katrina in 2005 made landfall with a pressure of 920 millibars.
PHOTO: Hurricane Michael is seen from the International Space Station, Oct. 10, 2018.NASA
Hurricane Michael is seen from the International Space Station, Oct. 10, 2018.
The hurricane also was forecast to bring storm surges of up to 14 feet high, prompting warnings from officials about a storm most powerful ever.
"Anybody that doesn't evacuate that experiences storm surges doesn't typically live to tell about that story," Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told "Good Morning America" on Wednesday.
Residents seek shelter, hunker down
Thousands fled the Florida coastline before the heavy rains -- which may reach up to 12 inches, in some areas -- began.
But by Wednesday morning, it was too late to evacuate. The time for that came and went for those who decide to ride it out. Those who remained were urged to shelter in place.
PHOTO: Wind gusts in excess of 155 MPH are expected as Hurricane Michael makes landfall, Oct. 10, 2018. ABC News
Wind gusts in excess of 155 MPH are expected as Hurricane Michael makes landfall, Oct. 10, 2018.
"This was a shock waking up knowing it was a [Category] 4/5," said Panama City Beach resident Julie Gordon. "Thinking it was a [Category] 2/ 3 was a very different story."
All bridges from Panama City Beach to further inland have closed, so Gordon said she is riding out Michael at home, "hoping and praying that the storm will continue to drift to the northeast ... [an area] where it's not quite as populated."
The Panhandle is the wide strip of northwest Florida with the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Alabama and Georgia to the north. Popular with tourists for its beaches, the area also has many year-round residents -- its largest city is Pensacola, with a population approaching half a million, plus.
About 4,000 people have entered 70 evacuation shelters, FEMA officials said.
Michael may bring weekslong power outages, and general clean up, officials added.
PHOTO: People seek safety in a shelter as Hurricane Michael approaches, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City, Fla.
People seek safety in a shelter as Hurricane Michael approaches, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City, Fla.
Mobile homes are especially a concern since they aren't built to withstand hurricane-force winds, so in one county in south Georgia, mobile home residents were invited to shelter at a local church, reported ABC affiliate WALB in Albany, Georgia.
"The size of this thing is growing," said Reggie Rachals, sheriff of Lee County, Georgia. "It will tear up mobile home parks real bad."
Bossert said he's concerned not enough people evacuated and many rescues may be needed after the brunt of the storm passes.
"I am very, very worried" about the recovery, Bossert added. "People are going to really struggling after this one."
States of emergency across the South
PHOTO: Hurricane Michael advisories, Oct. 10, 2018. ABC News
Hurricane Michael advisories, Oct. 10, 2018.
The last Category 4/ 5 hurricanes to strike the U.S. mainland were both in 2017 -- Irma, which slammed into Florida, and Harvey, which hit Texas.
Scott declared a state of emergency in 35 counties in Florida. Trump approved an emergency declaration for Florida, permitting the federal government to provide resources and aid during the dangerous storm.
"This was a small storm in an area, ... they never thought that it would be, and they said it grew into a monster," Trump said Wednesday from the Oval Office.
"We're very, very prepared," the president said. "We have massive amounts of food and water that gets brought in immediately."
Trump said, "It is not so easy" for some residents to evacuate.
Slideshow: Worst hurricanes in US history
SLIDESHOW: Slideshow: Worst hurricanes in US history
"Some of the areas are very poor. Not easy for a person without the necessary money to leave," he said.
Despite the storm, Trump said he plans to still attend his Wednesday night rally in Pennsylvania, telling reporters, "You have so many people already there and it’s sort of unfair to them."
He added that he will likely visit Florida on Sunday or following, Monday.
After tearing through Florida, Michael headed toward Georgia, where Gov. Nathan Deal had declared a state of emergency.
"What you're going to see is a storm moving very rapidly through Georgia, and it will maintain hurricane strength through southwest Georgia and central Georgia as it passes through later today and early tomorrow and perhaps at most the next day," FEMA's Long told "GMA" on Wednesday morning.
PHOTO: Kathy Eaton takes what she can from her home as she tries to get out of the way of the storm as hurricane Michael approaches, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City Beach, Fla.
Kathy Eaton takes what she can from her home as she tries to get out of the way of the storm as hurricane Michael approaches, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City Beach, Fla.
In Alabama, where residents may see massive power outages, high winds and heavy rain, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency statewide.
North Carolina and South Carolina will likely see heavy rainfall, which could cause flooding in areas already damaged and rain-soaked by last month’s Hurricane Florence.
A state of emergency was declared Wednesday in North Carolina, said Gov. Roy Cooper, as he warned that winds will be strong enough to down trees.
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Images showing Michael's destruction emerge: 'All the houses are submerged.
PHOTO: A woman checks on her vehicle as Hurricane Michael passes through in Panama City Beach, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
WATCH Dramatic video shows building collapse during Hurricane Michael
Hurricane Michael left a trail of destruction in its wake after making landfall on the Florida Panhandle early Wednesday.
The extent of the Category 4/ 5 storm's strength is evident in dramatic footage showing demolished homes and submerged neighborhoods.
PHOTO: A woman checks on her vehicle as Hurricane Michael passes through in Panama City Beach, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
A woman checks on her vehicle as Hurricane Michael passes through in Panama City Beach, Fla., Oct. 10, 2018.
One building, seen in a photo posted by ABC Tuscaloosa affiliate WBMA, appears to have crumbled beneath the Category 4/ 5 storm's 190+ mph winds.
ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee witnessed the storm surge at Mexico Beach push a house off its foundation.
Zee, who was in the eye wall of the storm for about an hour, described an "incredible storm surge." Conditions were so bad that Zee and her team lost the ability to broadcast.
Tessa Talarico posted videos to Instagram of an entire home that was knocked down.
"A whole house is gone and is floating in front of our place," Talarico wrote.
In another post, Talarico wrote, "All the houses are submerged."
The Lanark Fire Department tweeted footage of a terrifying storm surge creeping up the shore, bringing seawater into a carport of a beachfront home.
Strong waves overtook a boat ramp to Choctawhatchee Bay at Legion Park, a video posted to Instagram by Lars Rygaard shows.
Posted a photo of a group of people huddling in a storage closet at his hotel in Panama City.
Person wrote that the "whole hotel is shuddering" like an earthquake.
Workers at the Walton County Animal Shelter were seen comforting dogs and cats up for adopting as they ride out the storm.
Michael is the strongest hurricane to strike the Florida Panhandle since the mid-1800s, according to FEMA.
PHOTO: Waves crash along a pier from hurricane Michael, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City Beach, Fla.
Waves crash along a pier from hurricane Michael, Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City Beach, Fla.
The storm will then move rapidly through Georgia before bringing significant rainfall north to the Carolinas and beyond.
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