words per minute
5
JhonatanLealMendoza
00:00
Speed
Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach on the Florida Panhandle as a Category 4 storm early Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 10, 2018. The storm’s heavy rain, high winds, and extreme storm surges caused massive destruction in its path and spawned numerous tornadoes. Hurricane Michael was the first Category 4 storm in recorded history to make landfall in the northeast Gulf Coast.
Tracking north through the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Michael’s route was well predicted; its intensity was not. Hurricane Michael did not weaken as expected as it skirted Florida’s west coast. Instead, it accelerated to a Category 4 storm, making quick time toward the Florida Panhandle. As Michael slammed the coastline on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 10, its 155-mph winds pushed the threshold of a Category 5 storm.
Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle early Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 10, with a direct hit on Mexico Beach, a small sport-fishing coastal town with fewer than 1,200 permanent residents — a third of them aged 65 or older. It had mostly concrete block homes and small vacation cottages that are now nearly wiped off the map. Panama City was also badly ravaged by the high winds and storm surge. Jackson County, approximately 60 miles to the north fo Panama City, was not spared from the wrath of Michael's fury. The tiny community of Grand Ridge took a direct hit with the eye wall passing above the sleepy hamlet on the east end of the county. One of its landmarks, Grand Ridge School, had one of it's gymnasiums destroyed and several classrooms and ancillary buildings made inoperable.
So far, 35 deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Michael. Scores of people are still missing in the hardest-hit areas. Communities from the Florida Panhandle through Georgia to the Carolinas and Virginia are still cleaning up, clearing debris, and taking stock of destroyed and damaged buildings as well as downed trees and power lines.
Hurricane Michael left immense destruction in its wake. The storm surge buckled roads and washed out foundations, high winds and rain-soaked ground caused roofs, trees, and power poles and lines to fall. Initial estimates of property damage are in excess of $4.5 billion. Damage estimates to Florida’s forestland are currently at $3 billion.