Commercial boats leave the Destin Harbour in Destin, Florida, in readiness for Hurricane Michael. Photos / AP
Commercial boats leave the Destin Harbour in Destin, Florida, in readiness for Hurricane Michael. Photos / AP
Officials in Florida, Alabama and Georgia declared emergencies and issued dire warnings as Hurricane Michael charged closer to the US coast today.
Forecasters say the storm could flood the coastlines before tearing across a region still reeling from a deadly hurricane just weeks earlier.
"Let me be clear: Hurricane Michael is a monstrous storm," Florida Governor Rick Scott said at a news briefing. "And the forecast keeps getting more dangerous."
These forecasts called for the hurricane to make landfall in northwest Florida tomorrow as a Category three storm, bringing with it powerful winds, rain and a "life-threatening storm surge" that could reach as high as 3.5m in some areas, the National Hurricane Centre said.
With the storm approaching, officials sounded alarms about the danger while seeking to prepare a swath of the Southeast. Evacuation orders began to stretch along the Gulf Coast. Schools cancelled classes, closed campuses and called off athletic events. Sandbags were distributed, supplies stockpiled and shelters opened.
"Hurricane Michael is going to be a devastating storm to a part of Florida that has not seen a storm of this magnitude in quite some time," FEMA Associate Administrator Jeff Byard said today.
Hurricanes are categorised based on wind speed, but even storms on the weaker end of that scale can wreak havoc across communities - with the storm surge a particular focus of authorities awaiting Michael's arrival.
"Right now, our message is this: This is a very dangerous hurricane," Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Centre, said in a briefing. "A very dangerous storm surge will occur along the coast and well inland."
Storm surge, a swell of water fuelled by a system's winds, has been the leading cause of death from hurricanes in the United States, according to the National Weather Service.
This surge can also cause extensive physical damage. When Hurricane Opal strafed across the Florida Panhandle and headed inland in 1995, its storm surge was blamed for no deaths but tore apart homes, demolished piers and eroded highways, causing most of the storm's US$3 billion in reported damages, the Weather Service said.
Volunteers install fabric storm panels at Pensacola Beach Elementary School in Florida.
After hitting the coast, Michael is expected to weaken as it grinds across the southeastern US, parts of which are still recovering from Hurricane Florence, a storm that flooded the Carolinas and caused dozens of deaths last month.
Forecasters warn that more flooding could be in store, with heavy rainfall caused by Michael potentially stretching across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and southern Virginia, causing dangerous flash floods.
"It's not just a coastal issue," Graham said, warning that people will "start seeing this rain, start seeing this wind stretch further inland."
The concerns stretched across the border from Florida into Alabama and Georgia, where the governors issued states of emergency before Michael arrived.
Airports from Tallahassee to Pensacola said they would suspend flights. In Panama City, sitting between those two areas, numerous flights were cancelled, with airlines scrapping all flights until Friday NZT.
National Hurricane Centre branch chief Michael Brennan monitors the status of Hurricane Michael.
