En route to Florida, 'monster' Hurricane Michael strengthens
(Reuters) - Hurricane Michael strengthened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday as it headed for the Florida Panhandle, where authorities ordered residents to get out of harm’s way ahead of life-threatening waves, winds and rains.
Tens of thousands of people were told to evacuate coastal areas in at least 20 counties in Florida as the storm moved over the Gulf of Mexico, carrying winds of 100 miles per hour (155 km per hour) and disrupting oil production.
Michael could grow to a Category 3 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale before it makes landfall on Wednesday over the Florida Panhandle or the state’s Big Bend area, where the state capital of Tallahassee is located, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast. If so, it would rank as the most powerful storm to strike the Panhandle in at least a decade.
“Hurricane Michael is a monster storm and it keeps getting more dangerous. We’re 12 hours away from seeing impacts,” Florida Governor Rick Scott told a news conference on Tuesday. “The time to prepare is now.”
He warned of potential deadly impacts from a storm surge that could be as much as 12 feet (3.7 meters) over normal sea water levels, and winds that could rise to 110 mph (177 kph).
People in potentially affected areas should not take any chances against such a large storm surge, Scott said. “No one’s going to survive,” such a wall of water, he added.
As Michael moved over open water, energy companies halted nearly one-fifth of Gulf of Mexico oil production and evacuated personnel from 10 platforms on Monday.
The Gulf of Mexico produces 17 percent of daily U.S. crude oil output and 5 percent of daily natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The partial shutdown because of Michael helped push oil prices higher on Tuesday.
The NHC warned residents along more than 300 miles (480 km) of coastline, from Florida’s border with Alabama to the Suwannee River in Florida, to brace for hurricane conditions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had numerous teams prepared in Florida, said FEMA spokesman Jeff Byard.
Hurricane Michael in a satellite image taken Tuesday. NOAA/via REUTERS
“You will see damage to infrastructure, you will see power outages, and services that we are used to will be interrupted due to Hurricane Michael,” he told a news conference.
CLOSURES AND LINES FOR GAS
Scott declared a state of emergency in 35 counties along the Panhandle and Florida’s Big Bend regions. About 1,250 National Guard soldiers were assisting and more than 4,000 troops were placed on standby.
State offices, schools and universities were closed through the end of the week in Panhandle counties. Lines at gasoline stations grew as people left. Those who stayed emptied grocery store shelves of water and other supplies.
In neighboring Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey declared an emergency for the entire state on Monday, anticipating wind damage, heavy rains and power outages.
Hurricane Michael is expected to be the first major hurricane to hit the Panhandle since Hurricane Dennis in 2005, which made landfall near Pensacola, according to hurricane center data.
Torrential downpours and flash flooding caused by the storm over the weekend caused 13 deaths in Central America.
On Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. ET (1200 GMT) Michael’s center was about 395 miles (635 km) south of Panama City, Florida, heading north-northwest at around 12 mph (19 kph), the NHC said.
On its current track, it would make landfall somewhere along a coastline that includes the cities and towns of Fort Walton Beach, Panama City Beach, Port St. Joe, St. Teresa and the wildlife reserves bordering Apalachee Bay. However, forecasters always note it is not possible to predict where a hurricane will land until it is closer to the coast.
After striking Florida, Michael was forecast to move up the Southeast United States on Wednesday and Thursday, passing through the Carolinas, which are still recovering from Hurricane Florence last month. It would head out into the Atlantic by Friday, said Ken Widelski, a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The NHC forecast as much as 1 foot (30 cm) of rain in parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Alexander Charnicharo fishes at the seafront in Havana as Hurricane Michael passes by western Cuba on October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Frances Kerry
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.