Category 4 Hurricane Michael Approaching Panhandle Landfall; Spared Flagler Sends Help

Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday morning that time has run out for people in coastal areas who debated whether to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Michael, as the powerful Category 4 storm was poised to cause massive damage in the Panhandle.

“It’s too late to get out,” Scott said during an appearance on the Weather Channel. “If you’re in a coastal community, you’ve got to hunker down. You’ve got to do everything you can to keep your family safe.”

At 8 a.m. Eastern time, Michael, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, was about 90 miles south-southwest of Panama City, moving north at 13 mph.

“It’s going to get worse pretty fast here,” said Scott, before making similar comments in appearances on “Fox & Friends” and “CBS This Morning.”

A hurricane warning remained in effect from the Alabama state line to the Suwannee River in Dixie County for what could be the most destructive hurricane in the Panhandle in a century.

The storm, which is expected to speed through the Panhandle before moving into the Atlanta area and the Carolinas, rapidly grew over the weekend, and Scott said many people made the decision not to evacuate early, when the forecast had the system reaching 100 mph.

Florida Emergency Management Director Wes Maul said the state is prepared for search-and-rescue operations, as well as bringing food and medical supplies into areas, as there will be “devastating impacts.”

“Human needs, there’s going to be a lot,” Maul said. “Look at what is on the list: medical, water, food, shelter, emergency fuel. The time for opening shelters is over.”

Flagler County’s Suzanne Eubanks on Tuesday was deployed to go into Holmes County as part of the state’s Region 3 All Hazards Incident Management Team.

“She will be deployed for two weeks, and is required to be self-sustaining for several days,” said IT Director Jarrod Shupe, Eubanks’ supervisor for her day job within the county as IT Administrative Assistant and E911 Database Specialist. “She met her team in Mandarin at 1 p.m. today and then they are continuing on to their assigned location.”

Holmes County is directly north of Panama City Beach, one of the areas getting ready for a direct hit from Michael. Eubanks – working in the capacity of “Logistics Section Chief” – will be stationed at the Holmes County Emergency Operations Center in Bonifay, the county seat.

Maul on Monday expressed criticism in an email that local officials were not sufficiently preparing for the storm, noting that some safety operations weren’t scheduled to begin until Tuesday afternoon.

Fifty-four shelters were open across the Panhandle and Big Bend, housing nearly 6,000 people as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to the state Division of Emergency Management.

“It’s been frustrating,” Scott said while on CBS. “I’ve spent the last few days traveling the coast to get people to evacuate. Those that have decided not to evacuate, I’m very concerned about their safety.”

Scott said it is unknown how many did not leave, but he noted that while he was in Franklin County on Tuesday the sheriff had been unable to convince at least 50 people who were remaining in island homes.

Besides heavy rains and strong winds, the system is expected to create flash flooding and life-threatening storm surges across the Panhandle and Big Bend region.

“You’re not going to survive 12 feet, 13 feet of storm surge, you’re not going to survive it,” Scott said. “If you’re in a one-story house, and the storm surge is there, I don’t know how you’re going to survive that.”

Scott said the state is ready to respond once the storm passes, with 3,500 members of the Florida National Guard activated and more than 1,000 state forestry and wildlife officers prepared for search-and-rescue operations.

Utility crews from Gulf Power, Duke Energy Florida, Florida Power & Light and public utilities have lined up more than 19,000 workers from their own crews and through mutual-aid agreements with companies across the South and Midwest. Duke said Tuesday night, it expected 100,000 to 200,000 customers to lose power.

Appearing before the media Wednesday morning in the State Emergency Operations Center, Scott said fuel is moving where needed and no “widespread” gas outages had been reported.

The AAA Auto Group has said Michael isn’t expected to cause a “significant” spike in pump prices as its path remains east of most energy infrastructure such as oil rigs and refineries.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended vessel operations at the Port of Panama City and Port of Pensacola.

Scott lifted tolls across the Panhandle to help with mandatory evacuations. Such evacuations were ordered for coastal and low-lying areas of Bay, Dixie, Franklin, Gulf, Jackson, Levy, Okaloosa, Wakulla and Walton counties. Voluntary evacuation orders have been issued for areas of Calhoun, Gadsden, Hernando, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Pasco, Santa Rosa and Taylor counties, according to the state Division of Emergency Management website.

Scott said he talked Wednesday morning to President Donald Trump, who signed a pre-landfall emergency declaration Tuesday that ensures federal resources are available before and after the storm in the 35 counties where Scott declared a state of emergency.

–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida, and FlaglerLive