Hurricane Michael, nearing landfall, could be Florida Panhandle's 'worst storm ... in a century'
(CNN)A terrifyingly powerful Category 4 Hurricane Michael was poised to become the strongest hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle in recorded history Wednesday, its rapid strengthening catching some by surprise and leaving anxious officials telling those who didn't evacuate: It's time to hunker down.
"This is the worst storm that our Florida Panhandle has seen in a century," Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday morning.
"Hurricane Michael is upon us, and now is the time to seek refuge."
The extremely dangerous Michael is expected to make landfall in the Panhandle, perhaps near Panama City and Laguna Beach, in the afternoon, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
The storm's center had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph Wednesday morning, and if the eyewall hits the coast with winds of that speed, it would deliver damage like a strong tornado. "But instead of lasting 30 seconds, it lasts for one hour," Myers said.
"There will be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, without power for a very long time," Myers said.
Are any of our members or their families in the line of fire?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
I don’t think any of our members are Florida panhandle.
There’s at least one Republican nutjob saying that this hurricane is a Democratic revenge plot for Brett Kavanaugh.
Watching on the news and I have to say while on the one hand I think it’s absurd for news crews to sit on the beach as a Cat 4 - almost 5! - hurricane approaches, it’s pretty amazing to see what the ocean looks like just ahead of landfall. I predict really devastating damage from this storm and I really hope people evacuated, especially as it didn’t seem that there was anything like the lead-up and media coverage of Michael’s approach as there was for Florence.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
it didn’t seem that there was anything like the lead-up and media coverage of Michael’s approach as there was for Florence.
The Gulf storms don't typically form as far out in the Atlantic, so they have less lead time before hitting the US mainland...
They also have a tendency to intensify right before hitting landfall much more quickly than storms that hit the Eastern Seaboard. I saw a report that said that a lot of folks decided to ride it out expecting a Cat 2, and by the time they found out would most like land as a Cat 4 it was too late to evacuate...
Katrina was another Gulf hurricane that ramped up from a Cat 2 to a Cat 4 in a matter of hours before making landfall...
That makes all kinds of sense - they’re saying the same on the news right now. I’m really worried about death toll with this storm, not to mention property damage.
I suspect as the ocean continues to rise and warm, these coastal areas in the south are going to become uninhabitable except as vacation areas - it’s just going to be too costly to rebuild over and over, and insurance companies will put the foot down.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
I have to say while on the one hand I think it’s absurd for news crews to sit on the beach as a Cat 4 - almost 5! - hurricane approaches
but they're trained professionals; they keep telling us that we mere mortals should not venture out into the storm while they, with their superior powers, have free reign to drive or walk wherever they wish. I'm honestly surprised more are not hurt or worse.
I have to say while on the one hand I think it’s absurd for news crews to sit on the beach as a Cat 4 - almost 5! - hurricane approaches
but they're trained professionals; they keep telling us that we mere mortals should not venture out into the storm while they, with their superior powers, have free reign to drive or walk wherever they wish. I'm honestly surprised more are not hurt or worse.
ABC News just finished up an hour long "special" with the wind whipping on the other side of a glass door the reporter was standing near. She said it was hurricane proof, but it kept bowing in the wind. It was scary to watch.
A friend of Doc's, one of only two B-29 bombers still flying.
Just watched Brooke Baldwin on CNN doing a helicopter flyover of Mexico Beach Florida, the town that was apparently ground zero for Michael's landfall...
I hope the relevant counties have building inspectors out seeing which roofing and building systems survived and which not so they can improve building codes for all the areas which will be ravaged by hurricanes as the GOP denies global warming.
This story fell out of the news in the wake of the Melanoma & Kanye publicity fest that grabbed the spotlight Friday; these images of Michael damage demand to be seen, however. The wreckage is unreal and there are hundreds of people missing - I fear the death toll is going to grow substantially as cleanup efforts begin.
These poor people; I’d rather lose everything to a wildfire than to come home to a waterlogged smelly ruined mess with just enough traces of my life left to make every step of cleanup emotionally devastating.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
