After Cat 4 landfall, Michael floods homes, shreds roofs and fuels outages in Panhandle
With the storm still raging across
Michael, arriving at just a 2 mph tick below Category 5, was the strongest hurricane ever to hit the Florida
By Wednesday evening, there was one confirmed death in
More than 388,000 homes and businesses across the
"I've never been through one this bad," he said. "It sounded like 40 jet engines going off."
As Michael churned inland,
Michael, downgraded to a Cat 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph at
The storm ravaged swaths of communities along the coastline, leveling homes in
The governor said the state had heard reports of two "devastating" tornadoes in
"If it's not safe to leave your homes, don't leave them," Scott said. "Listen to your local officials."
Scott said search and rescue teams were being deployed south toward
Barely an hour after the storm crashed ashore, the streets in the old historic district of
At the
Along
During the height of the storm,
"My wife and I were standing back always because we could see them wobbling back and forth. We knew they were going to go," Lindsey said.
When the windows finally exploded, glass sprayed onto the street and atop an antique chair, an oil painting and a skeleton pirate
"It was very dramatic. Very intense," Lindsey said.
Winds also knocked out local radio and TV stations. The local
"There is no one on the air, radio or television," Cole said. "I have things that hit our building and took chunks out of the building. We've got roofs from other buildings on ours, at least three of them."
"We have to save this stuff," said his daughter,
Hurricane Michael's track also inched slightly farther west than initially forecast Wednesday, bringing the eyewall close to the state's largest mental health facility in
As the storm straddled
The local
The two spoke shortly before
As the storm rolled inland, gauges on the
"When you have a system that comes onshore at 155 mph, it's going to stay a hurricane for a while," he said.
Michael's surge in strength came suddenly. On Tuesday, forecasters had not expected sustained winds to exceed 130 mph, although they warned that the storm might strengthen. But overnight as it churned toward the coast over very warm
In the old paper mill town of
Despite urgent evacuation orders that began Monday, many residents hunkered down for the sudden hurricane, which formed just two days ago in the southern
"This looks like obliteration. It's pure power," he said as he watched the winds topple a large ficus tree onto a church playground below.
Earlier in the morning, last-minute gawkers stood on the beach near what's usually a busy tourist hub lined with miniature golf courses, oyster bars and condos.
"I was going to stay here until it got to a Category 4," said
McClatchy correspondent
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