(CNN) – Hurricane Michael is poised to slam Florida’s Panhandle by Wednesday afternoon, threatening dangerous storm surges to low-lying areas ill-equipped to handle them — and officials are urging people to get out of the way now.
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Michael, spinning in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3 storm Tuesday, is expected to strengthen even more before making landfall Wednesday.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott called Michael a “monstrous storm” that could bring “total devastation” in and around the Panhandle area.
“Hurricane Michael is forecast to be the most destructive storm to hit the Florida Panhandle in decades,” Scott said Tuesday morning.
“You cannot hide from storm surge, so … get out if an evacuation is ordered,” he said.
Tropical-storm-force winds will be felt in the area starting early Wednesday, and mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders already have been issued in at least 16 Florida counties along and near the state’s Panhandle and Big Bend coasts.
Michael’s core, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, was about 395 miles south of Panama City, Florida the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 40 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds outward up to 195 miles.
The main threats
The storm’s center and where it makes landfall with its destructive winds represent just one of several concerns. Among them:
• Storm surges of 9 to 12 feet could slam the coast from roughly Apalachicola to Cedar Key, Florida, with only slightly lower surges farther to the west along the Panhandle coast. “That means the water will come miles in shore and could easily be over the roofs of houses,” Scott said.
• Heavy rain and flooding are expected not just for Florida but also for other parts of the Southeast. Up to 12 inches of rain could fall in Florida’s Panhandle and Big Bend areas, southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia, while parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia eventually could see up to 6 inches, the hurricane center said.
• Tornadoes could spawn as a result of the storm in the Southeast on Tuesday night into Thursday, forecasters said.
• Damaging winds are expected to rake not just Florida but also southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia. If Michael’s core comes ashore as a Category 2 or higher, it would be the strongest storm in terms of wind speed to make landfall in the country this year.
“You will see damage to infrastructure. You will see power outages,” Jeff Byard, associate administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Response and Recovery, said Tuesday.
“#HurricaneMichael isn’t heading to any one town …,” the National Weather Service tweeted Monday. “There are warnings for more than 300 miles of coastline. It’s forecast to be a large and dangerous hurricane at landfall.”
‘We need the residents to be leaving today’
A hurricane warning is in place from the Alabama-Florida border to the Suwannee River in Florida. A hurricane watch is in effect for the coast of Alabama.
Meanwhile, tropical storm warnings extend from the Chassahowitzka River to the Mississippi-Alabama border. Tropical storm watches are in effect in some coastal areas of Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Storm surge warnings are also in place along the Florida and Alabama coasts.
“This is a life-threatening situation. Persons located within these areas should take all necessary actions to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for other dangerous conditions,” the hurricane center said.
US Rep. Neal Dunn, whose district includes Panama City, urged people under evacuation orders to get out before tropical-storm-force winds arrived. He especially focused on islands off the coast whose bridges may close as the storm approaches.
“You haven’t got anywhere to go (if the bridges close),” he said Tuesday morning. “And then you’re riding it out in your car instead of something else. So we need the residents to be leaving today … because by this evening, those bridges are going to be in peril of being closed.”
Some Florida counties ordered to evacuate
Floridians scurried to prepare after Scott extended a state of emergency to 35 counties and activated 2,000 National Guardsmen for hurricane duty.
The governor declared states of emergency for Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Gadsden, Liberty, Franklin, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Hamilton, Suwannee, Lafayette, Dixie, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Citrus, Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Alachua, Union, Bradford and Baker counties.
Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders were issued along the Florida Panhandle, and Scott said on Twitter he has directed the Florida Department of Transportation to suspend tolls in the northwest Florida region.
The Florida Highway Patrol is sending nearly 350 state troopers to the Panhandle and Big Bend areas in preparation for the storm, he said.
Alabama prepares for widespread power outages
In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statewide state of emergency, saying on Twitter that it was “in anticipation of wide-spread power outages, wind damage and debris produced by high winds & heavy rain associated with #HurricaneMichael.”
The governor’s declaration activates the state’s emergency operations plan, according to Ivey’s office.
“I am concerned about the cone of uncertainty as Hurricane Michael is leaning west today,” Alabama Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Hastings said in a statement Monday. “Residents and businesses in coastal Alabama must be vigilant and closely monitor the storm’s path and be prepared for a major hurricane.”
Deaths in Central America
Michael has been lashing western Cuba as it churned toward the United States. Up to 12 inches could fall there, threatening flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said Tuesday.
Over the weekend, flooding related to Michael led to at least 13 deaths in the Central American countries of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, according to officials.
