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| Hurricane Michael Live Updates: Category 2 Storm Bears Down on Florida Panhandle | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Hurricane Michael strengthened into a Category 2 storm on Tuesday as it took clearer aim at the Florida Panhandle, which was bracing for a major hurricane to make landfall on Wednesday. | |
| The hurricane, poised to become the strongest tropical system to make landfall in the mainland United States so far this year, has sustained winds of 110 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning. The storm’s winds are expected to increase, and Michael is on track to become a Category 3 storm later in the day. | |
| Governors in at least three states have declared emergencies, and the local authorities are urging people to evacuate or to fortify their homes ahead of the storm. | |
| Here are the latest developments: | Here are the latest developments: |
| • As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving north-northwest at 12 m.p.h. in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Click on the map below to see the storm’s projected path. | |
| • A hurricane warning was in effect from the Alabama-Florida border to the Suwannee River in Florida. A hurricane watch was in effect from the Alabama-Florida border to the Mississippi-Alabama border. | • A hurricane warning was in effect from the Alabama-Florida border to the Suwannee River in Florida. A hurricane watch was in effect from the Alabama-Florida border to the Mississippi-Alabama border. |
| • Hurricane Michael could make landfall as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday anywhere from Destin, Fla., to Apalachee Bay, the National Hurricane Center said. It was projected then to veer northeast — through Georgia and the Carolinas — before heading into the Atlantic on Thursday night. | • Hurricane Michael could make landfall as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday anywhere from Destin, Fla., to Apalachee Bay, the National Hurricane Center said. It was projected then to veer northeast — through Georgia and the Carolinas — before heading into the Atlantic on Thursday night. |
| • President Trump on Monday said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was in full preparation mode. “It looked a couple of days ago like it was not going to be much,” he said of the storm, “and now it’s looking like it could be a very big one, so we’re prepared, and good luck.” | |
| • Gas, generators and other emergency supplies were reported sold out in many places, The Tallahassee Democrat reported. | • Gas, generators and other emergency supplies were reported sold out in many places, The Tallahassee Democrat reported. |
| Gov. Rick Scott of Florida pleaded with residents on Tuesday to heed evacuation orders and to prepare for a storm that he warned “could bring total devastation to parts of our state.” | |
| “Hurricane Michael is a monstrous storm, and the forecast keeps getting more dangerous,” Mr. Scott said during an appearance at the state’s emergency operations center in Tallahassee, the Florida capital. | |
| By Tuesday morning, a handful of counties had issued evacuation orders that were often targeted at visitors or people who live in mobile homes or low-lying areas. “If we need to have evacuations, local communities need to issue the orders now,” Mr. Scott said. “We cannot afford to wait.” | |
| Mr. Scott, a Republican who is on the ballot next month for a United States Senate seat, has declared a state of emergency in 35 counties and deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard. He said he believed people were taking the storm “seriously,” but he also seemed to suggest that some local officials, familiar with the furies of triple-digit wind speeds and torrential rains, were perhaps not sufficiently fearful of Hurricane Michael’s perils. | |
| “I think a lot of people have been through 110-mile-an-hour winds, they’ve been through 12 inches of rain,” he said. “I think what’s different about this storm that really concerns me is the storm surge.” | |
| Weather forecasters, who have said storm surge could reach 12 feet in some areas, have issued a storm surge warning for the stretch between the border of Okaloosa and Walton Counties to the Anclote River. A storm surge watch is in effect on both sides of the warning area: from the Okaloosa and Walton county line westward to Florida’s border with Alabama, and from the Anclote to Anna Maria Island. | |
| On Tuesday, Mr. Scott offered an admonition to residents considering whether to flee, and he said that time was running short. | |
| “If you’re on the fence, don’t think about it,” he said. “Do it.” | |
| In many ways, climate change has made hurricanes worse: A rise in sea level is causing higher storm surges, and warmer air is leading to rainier storms. | In many ways, climate change has made hurricanes worse: A rise in sea level is causing higher storm surges, and warmer air is leading to rainier storms. |
| With Hurricane Michael, local geography also has a role to play in the storm’s impact. | With Hurricane Michael, local geography also has a role to play in the storm’s impact. |
| If the predictions of its path hold, the hurricane will be the first to hit this area since Hurricane Hermine in 2016, said Jamie Rhome, a storm surge specialist at the National Hurricane Center. That storm was a Category 1. Hurricane Michael is expected to strike land as a Category 3, a major storm with wind speeds of 111 to 129 m.p.h. That’s enough to uproot trees and tear off roof decking. | If the predictions of its path hold, the hurricane will be the first to hit this area since Hurricane Hermine in 2016, said Jamie Rhome, a storm surge specialist at the National Hurricane Center. That storm was a Category 1. Hurricane Michael is expected to strike land as a Category 3, a major storm with wind speeds of 111 to 129 m.p.h. That’s enough to uproot trees and tear off roof decking. |
| Wind, while a source of destruction in storms, is not the only threat. Surge can devastate coastal communities, and the rain dumped by storms can cause flooding far inland. Mr. Rhome noted that while this hurricane’s path was still not certain, its probable impact at the bend of Florida on the way into the Panhandle could be very destructive. “It’s an incredibly vulnerable spot,” he said. “Regardless of whether the track moves a little to the left or the right, or wobbles,” he said, “it’s going to be a bad storm surge event for somebody.” | Wind, while a source of destruction in storms, is not the only threat. Surge can devastate coastal communities, and the rain dumped by storms can cause flooding far inland. Mr. Rhome noted that while this hurricane’s path was still not certain, its probable impact at the bend of Florida on the way into the Panhandle could be very destructive. “It’s an incredibly vulnerable spot,” he said. “Regardless of whether the track moves a little to the left or the right, or wobbles,” he said, “it’s going to be a bad storm surge event for somebody.” |
| [Here’s our guide to how hurricanes are classified and why a change in category doesn’t tell the whole story.] | [Here’s our guide to how hurricanes are classified and why a change in category doesn’t tell the whole story.] |
| Rick Luettich, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina, said that the area was especially susceptible to a large storm surge because of its “funnel-shaped geometry and broad, shallow continental shelf.” | Rick Luettich, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of North Carolina, said that the area was especially susceptible to a large storm surge because of its “funnel-shaped geometry and broad, shallow continental shelf.” |
| If there is good news, he said it’s that the area of possible impact “is not as densely populated as other parts of the Gulf Coast, and therefore the human consequences of such a large surge should be less severe than if it hit further west on the Florida Panhandle or further east,” in say, Tampa. | If there is good news, he said it’s that the area of possible impact “is not as densely populated as other parts of the Gulf Coast, and therefore the human consequences of such a large surge should be less severe than if it hit further west on the Florida Panhandle or further east,” in say, Tampa. |
| [Does it seem as if severe storms keep damaging the same areas, and those areas are simply built up again? Part of that is the way disaster funding works. Read about it here.] | [Does it seem as if severe storms keep damaging the same areas, and those areas are simply built up again? Part of that is the way disaster funding works. Read about it here.] |
| Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia on Tuesday declared an emergency for 92 of his state’s 159 counties, following Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama, who issued an emergency declaration on Monday. | |
| The storm is expected to cross Georgia on Wednesday and Thursday, and then move offshore into the Atlantic on Friday morning. By the time it does, it will have swept over parts of the Carolinas that were deluged when Hurricane Florence, a Category 1 storm, struck last month. | |
| “Because of the damage caused by Hurricane Florence and the fact that there’s still some standing water in places, we have to be that much more alert about the damage that Hurricane Michael could do,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference on Tuesday morning in Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital. | |
| “We know we have to be ready, and hurricane-weary North Carolinians cannot let their guard down just because we’re fatigued with Hurricane Florence.” | |
| Mr. Trump also warned residents in areas to the north to be on alert. | |
| Election offices that are closed on Tuesday because of the hurricane will be able to accept paper voter registration applications on the day they reopen, whenever that might be, Secretary of State Ken Detzner said in a memo on Monday night. | Election offices that are closed on Tuesday because of the hurricane will be able to accept paper voter registration applications on the day they reopen, whenever that might be, Secretary of State Ken Detzner said in a memo on Monday night. |
| The close of voter registration had been scheduled for Tuesday, four weeks before Election Day in a state with some of the country’s marquee races, including contests for governor and a United States Senate seat. | The close of voter registration had been scheduled for Tuesday, four weeks before Election Day in a state with some of the country’s marquee races, including contests for governor and a United States Senate seat. |
| But Mr. Detzner, a Republican who faced Democratic pressure to extend the deadline, effectively waived the deadline, writing that his decision would “ensure that each Supervisor of Elections Office has the same amount of days to register voters at their offices.” | But Mr. Detzner, a Republican who faced Democratic pressure to extend the deadline, effectively waived the deadline, writing that his decision would “ensure that each Supervisor of Elections Office has the same amount of days to register voters at their offices.” |
| The extension will not apply in all 35 counties for which Governor Scott declared a state of emergency. Election offices in some of those counties, like Alachua, which includes Gainesville, and Hillsborough, which includes Tampa, were expected to be open for business on Tuesday morning. | The extension will not apply in all 35 counties for which Governor Scott declared a state of emergency. Election offices in some of those counties, like Alachua, which includes Gainesville, and Hillsborough, which includes Tampa, were expected to be open for business on Tuesday morning. |
| The deadline for online voter registration — 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday — was unchanged. | The deadline for online voter registration — 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday — was unchanged. |