#13,581
Hurricane Michael continued to intensify overnight, and is now a strong CAT 4 storm, with winds of up to 140 MPH. It should make landfall this afternoon along the Florida panhandle, and then track rapidly to the Northeast, over Georgia and the Carolinas.
The latest (7am EST) update from the NHC reads:
SUMMARY OF 600 AM CDT...1100 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...28.8N 86.3W
ABOUT 105 MI...165 KM SSW OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA
ABOUT 100 MI...160 KM SW OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...140 MPH...220 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...N OR 5 DEGREES AT 13 MPH...20 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...937 MB...27.67 INCHES
And the most recent Key Messages read:
Hopefully everyone who needed to evacuate already has. This storm has the potential to produce catastrophic damage, unlike anything seen in this region in decades.
And the recovery could take months.
