Trees are down and waves are crashing onto Highway 98 in Eastpoint, Florida, as Hurricane Michael hits the area.
“Water levels continue to rise quickly along the coast of the Florida Panhandle. A National Ocean Service water level station at Apalachicola recently reported over 6.5 feet of inundation above ground level,” the NHC also stated.
The storm’s center is presently about 15 miles from Mexico Beach, Florida, and Panama City, Florida.
“A weather station at the Gulf County Emergency Operations Center in Port St. Joe recently reported a wind gust of 106 mph (171 km/h). A Weatherflow station is St. Andrew Bay recently reported a sustained wind of 62 mph (100 km/h) and a wind gust of 77 mph (124 km/h). The Apalachicola airport recently reported sustained winds of 63 mph (102 km/h) with a gust of 89 mph (143 km/h),” the agency also wrote.
Reuters reported that 10,000 customers were already without power before landfall.
Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter on Wednesday morning that it was too late to evacuate the target zone and that people who had stayed should immediately seek refuge.
Hurricane center Director Ken Graham said on Facebook that Michael would be the worst storm in recorded history to hit the Panhandle.
“Going back through records to 1851 we can’t find another Cat 4 in this area, so this is, unfortunately, a historical and incredibly dangerous and life-threatening situation,” he said.
Michael is approaching a category 5.
Apalachicola Mayor Van Johnson said his city, which could suffer some of the worst of the storm surge, was under mandatory evacuation orders.
“My greatest concern is that some people are just now starting to take this storm seriously and are evacuating,” he told CNN. “And I just hope the others that have not made that decision get out while the roads are still passable and before the bridges close.”
