Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael was a powerful, category five hurricane that brought devastating impacts to the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 7-11, 2018.

Micheal formed on Oct. 2 from the remains of Tropical Storm Kirk in the central and western Caribbean Sea. By Oct. 8, it had strengthened into a tropical storm and passed over Cabo del San Antonio, Cuba.

Wind speeds from Micheal increased to 140 kt, strong enough to designate it a Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale by the time it made landfall in the Florida Panhandle.

By Oct. 10, Micheal’s wind speeds dropped to 100 kt as the storm passed out of the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia. Micheal continued to loose strength as it passed through North Carolina and Virginia by Oct. 12.

The death toll from Micheal totaled 16: seven deaths in Florida, five of which were drowning, five in Virginia, three in North Carolina and one in Georgia. The worst of Micheal’s damage was reported in Mexico Beach, Florida, where 1,584 out of 1,692 buildings were damaged, and 804 were destroyed. The total occurred damage from Michael totaled $25 billion in the United States.

More information on Hurricane Michael can be found in the National Hurricane’s full report.

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Contributions by: Dakota Smith

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