Hurricane-force wind gusts, torrential rains, and a massive storm surge are belting Florida’s Panhandle as extremely dangerous Hurricane Michael closes in on an afternoon landfall. At 1 pm EDT, the hurricane hunters found that Michael was still intensifying, with sustained winds of 150 mph and a central pressure of 919 mb. A storm surge of over eight feet was already affecting the Panhandle, inundating many escape routes. Michael is poised to be one of the most top-ten most intense hurricanes on record to make landfall in the U.S. READ MORE
