Hurricane Michael has made landfall on Wednesday afternoon, making the first Category 4 hurricane to land in the Florida Panhandle.
At approximately 1:30 p.m. EDT with violent, sustained winds of 155 m.p.h., The Weather Channel reported Wednesday.
The storm made landfall in Bay County, Fla., where over 120,000 residents were subjected to earlier mandatory evacuation. Tyndall Air Force Base is also located in the county, and some personnel and storm chasers have used the base as a safe haven while photographing the storm’s violent winds.
One video going viral shows a weatherman almost getting speared by flying debris:
Cantore nearly just got speared by 2×4 it seemed. #HurricaneMichael pic.twitter.com/tyNWrymC3p
— Tim Ballisty (@IrishEagle) October 10, 2018
See more videos and photos below.
One photo shows a remarkable aerial photo captured by the International Space Station. The second one was taken from Tyndall AFB, looking upward through the eye of Michael toward the sun.
Winds recorded from systems at Tyndall AFB captured wind speeds of 130 m.p.h.
LOOK at these incredible vantages on #Michael. The #ISS captured the first pic of the Cat. 4 Hurricane. The second, and most remarkable pic is looking up at the #eyewall from Tyndall AFB as the storm made landfall (tweeted by @Basehunters). INCREDIBLE! @weatherchannel is LIVE. pic.twitter.com/e4rElad60D
— Justin Michaels (@JMichaelsNews) October 10, 2018
High-end Cat. 4 #Hurricane #Michael now making landfall between Tyndall AFB and Mexico Beach, FL with *sustained* winds of 150 MPH. Pressure down to 919 MB (27.14″). (@NOAA GOES-East vis imagery) pic.twitter.com/hp1X9RF8aT
— NASA SPoRT (@NASA_SPoRT) October 10, 2018
Power outages are expected near the coast and inland, which some estimates predicting one million homes will lose power. Power outages could last for over a week.
Storm tracking website Hurricane City captured a live feed of before and during the storm.
The Weather Channel captured this video in Panama City Beach, just 18 miles from Tyndall AFB.
Roofing peeling off The Flamingo in #PanamaCityBeach as #michael makes landfall east of us. Tyndall AFB (18 miles from us) reporting gusts to 128 mph. h/t @SarahDillingham @JamesSinko pic.twitter.com/r2bWgPYsym
— Alexandra Wilson (@TWCAlexWilson) October 10, 2018
The intense wind destroyed roofs and scattered debris about in Mexico Beach, Fla., as visible in the following video.
CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE | Houses are almost completely underwater in Mexico Beach, FL. The only thing visible are the roofs. #PrayForFlorida https://t.co/q1e4U9PMeV pic.twitter.com/NO2mxMCVSA
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) October 10, 2018
On Monday, Tyndall AFB personnel began relocating aircraft to avoid storm damage. One video showed evacuation efforts of F-22 Raptors and T-38 trainers on the base.
VIDEO: Tyndall AFB evacuates its F-22 Raptors and T-38 trainers to avoid #Hurricane Michael https://t.co/av4EjJlpae
— luis martinez (@LMartinezABC) October 9, 2018
Wind and rain from Michael have stretched across northern Florida, and into Alabama and Georgia as it continues on its path northward.
Storm surge warnings remain in effect for coastal areas, which are expected to see storm surges of up to 14 feet. Storm surges of five to eight feet have already been recorded in coastal Fla. areas.
A 4 p.m. EDT update from the National Hurricane Center listed recorded wind gusts of 102 m.p.h. in Marianna, Fla.
Flood warnings remain in effect for much of Alabama and Georgia as the storm moves slowly through the states. Tropical storm warnings will remain in effect for 36 hours as the storm makes its way northeast to the Carolinas, threatening winds of more than 39 m.p.h.
