Hurricane Michael made landfall midday on the coast of Florida’s panhandle Wednesday, battering homes with 155 mile per hour winds, making it the strongest storm on record to ever hit that part of the state. The wind speed at the time the hurricane hit is the strongest of any storm to strike the continental US since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
A tally compiled by Gulf Power has reported more than 100,000 residents, out of 450,000 customers, have lost electricity.
Former Federal Emergency Management Agency deputy administration Sandra Knight said in an interview on CNBC that the damages from the storm could reach US$30 billion.
Michael caught many local residents off guard, gaining strength overnight to become a much bigger storm than was expected.
Footage from local news outlets shows extreme flooding and houses being torn apart by the wind gusts:
A look at what houses in #Mexico Beach, #Florida look like right now. This is a follow up from the previous clip posted. They are now submerged and were no match for #HurricaneMichael (via Tessa Talarico) #Hurricane #Michael #HurricaneMichael2018 pic.twitter.com/GJENrhFJha
— Josh Benson (@WFLAJosh) October 10, 2018
WOW……Incredible video coming in of Hurricane Michael exploding a house into pieces in Panama City, Florida. (Source: Aaron Rigsby/Live Storms Media) #hurricanemichael #hurricane pic.twitter.com/kT2mKOzvjH
— CBS 4 News (@kgbt) October 10, 2018
Looks a lot like Iraq after the US Military was through with it.
Looks a lot like Iraq after the US Military was through with it.