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Hurricane Michael headed for the Florida Panhandle Tuesday, threatening to bring heavy rains and winds from a powerful tropical cyclone to the coast and hundreds of miles from the inside.
On Tuesday at 2 am, the National Hurricane Center said the hurricane had sustained maximum winds of 90 miles at the time and was moving north-northwest at 12 km / h. from an offshore position near the western tip of Cuba.
The storm is expected to hit the Panhandle on Wednesday and could be classified as a major hurricane, with a wind speed of at least 111 km / h. As early as Tuesday morning, a hurricane warning was in effect in a province of western Cuba and parts of the Gulf Coast.
Beyond the speed of the wind, authorities said they fear torrential rain and perhaps a 12-foot increase in the storm. Hurricane Hermine has caused huge electrical disturbances in an area that has suffered tremendous electrical disturbances, and the public authorities and power companies are under enormous pressure to maintain the power supply. lights on or restore service quickly.
Some counties issued evacuation orders and shelters were opened in some communities.
Here are the latest developments:
• A hurricane warning was in effect from the border between Alabama and Florida and the Suwannee River in Florida, as well as in the province of Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba.
• Hurricane surveillance was in effect from the Alabama-Florida border and between Mississippi and Alabama.
• Hurricane Michael could touch land Wednesday, from Destin, Florida, to Apalachee Bay, the National Hurricane Center announced. He then had to turn northeast – passing through Georgia and the Carolinas – before heading to the Atlantic on Thursday night.
• The hurricane could hit Florida as a Category 3 storm, after being upgraded several times. Here is our guide to hurricane classification and why a grade change does not tell the whole story.
• Florida Governor Rick Scott, who comes to the Senate, left the election campaign on Sunday to focus on preparations for the storm. He said the hurricane "would put his life in danger and would be extremely dangerous," and warned that some areas could receive up to a foot of rain.
• Mr. Scott declared the state of emergency Sunday in 26 counties of Florida. On Monday, he extended his statement to 35 counties and asked President Trump for federal help.
• Trump said Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is being prepared. "A few days ago, it seemed like there was not much to do," he said about the storm. "And now, it seems like it could be very important, so we're ready and good luck."
• Gasoline, generators and other emergency supplies have been sold in many places, the Tallahassee daily reported.
• Florida State University announced that it would close on Tuesday and was not planning to resume normal operations until Monday. The Florida Supreme Court and state offices in several counties were also scheduled to close Tuesday through Thursday.
• Leon County schools have announced that they will close for the remainder of the week and that the evacuation centers and shelters located there are expected to open Tuesday at noon.
• Does it appear that violent storms continue to damage the same areas and that these areas are simply rebuilt? Part of that is how disaster financing works. Read about it here.
• Follow the New York Times reporters at the scene: Patricia Mazzei in Tallahassee, Richard Faussett in Panama City and Alan Blinder in Atlanta.
Click on the map below to see the projected course of the storm:
Storm could reach "an incredibly vulnerable place"
In many ways, climate change has made hurricanes worse: sea level rise causes stronger storm surges, and warmer air leads to more rainy storms.
With Hurricane Michael, local geography also has a role to play in the impact of the storm.
If predictions about its trajectory come true, the hurricane will be the first to hit this area since Hurricane Hermine in 2016, said Jamie Rhome, storm surge specialist at the National Hurricane Center. This storm belonged to category 1. Hurricane Michael is expected to hit Category 3 lands, a major storm with winds of 111 to 129 mph. This is enough to uproot trees and tear off the decking.
The wind, as a source of destruction during storms, is not the only threat. Floods can devastate coastal communities and rains spewed by storms can cause flooding inland. Mr. Rhome noted that although the trajectory of this hurricane was not yet certain, its likely impact at the turn of Florida on the way to the Panhandle could be very destructive. "It's an incredibly vulnerable place," he said. "It does not matter if the track moves a little to the left or right, or wobbles," he said, "it will be a bad test for the storm."
Rick Luettich, director of the Institute of Ocean Sciences at the University of North Carolina, said the region was particularly exposed to severe storms because of its "funnel-shaped geometry" and its shallow continental shelf ".
If there is good news, he said, it is that the area of possible impact "is not as densely populated as other parts of the gulf coast, so the human consequences of such a surge should be less severe than if it spread more west to the Florida Panhandle or further east, "for example in Tampa.
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