Michael's Death Toll Rises to 13 as Storm Heads North
The storm was making its way toward the Atlantic Ocean as a post-tropical cyclone with winds gusting at 65 mph.
by Elisha Fieldstadt
Oct.12.2018
3:27 PM EDT
The death toll from Hurricane Michael's devastating march up the East Coast rose to 13 on Friday, as the storm lashed Virginia and left at least five people in the state dead.
The storm was making its way toward the Atlantic Ocean on Friday as a post-tropical cyclone with winds gusting at 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center said the storm was again gaining strength and could soon move off-shore, but still posed a risk since damaging winds extended 275 miles from its center. North Carolina, where one man was killed, could see additional storm surge. Meanwhile, parts of the Northeast could see up to 5 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.
Virginia was the latest state to get hit by the storm, which brought tornadoes and flooding to the area. Five people in the state were killed and another person is missing, according to Virginia's Department of Emergency Management. Another person was missing, officials said.
Of those killed, four drowned and one was a firefighter, identified as Lt. Brad Clark, who was responding to a traffic accident on slick roads when a tractor-trailer slammed into his engine, according to the Hanover County Fire-EMS Department. Two more emergency responders were seriously injured in the crash, as was the driver of the tractor-trailer, who had to be extracted.
Nearly half a million customers in Virginia were without power and flooding could continue to be an issue there through next week.
Another million customers were without power across Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Florida, where the storm first made landfall and flattened coastal Panhandle communities.
At least four people were killed in the county of Gadsden, Florida, and officials were still surveying the ravaged oceanfront neighborhoods of Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach.
Most of Mexico Beach is uninhabitable, Donald Walker, Interim Fire Chief for the city of about 1,000 people, told NBC News.
"This is a whole town that just got wiped off the face of the earth," he said. "It's as simple as there's less than 5 percent of the buildings that will be livable."
"It’s like a bomb went off," said Florida Gov. Rick Scott while touring Mexico Beach. "I mean, this is what you’d think a war zone would be like."
"This is the worst [hurricane] from what I’ve seen in a long-shot," Scott said, adding that his priorities are search and rescue and keeping people safe after the storm. He urged residents not to come back yet because the area is hazardous, but he said he feels for the people who have come back.
"Seeing their faces, they’re just devastated," he said.
Crews are trying to get food, water, electricity and cell service to those who stayed behind, but Scott said it's a challenge because they need to be airlifted into Mexico Beach.
Troy Garner, who rode out the storm there, said it was the scariest situation he and his wife had ever been in.
"We were just completely taken by surprise that it ramped up so quickly, and it's devastated our neighborhood," said Garner, whose house was damaged but not destroyed.
Julie Touchton, 42, who lives about 3 miles inland and wasn't told to evacuate, said she has never seen a storm like Hurricane Michael, and has lived near Panama City for 20 years.
"We have all gone through a Cat 3, that's nothing, but Michael was extraordinary, especially in how fast and strong he grew," she said.
Touchton and her family left their home to stay with friends because they had no power or running water. She said driving tree-covered roads in the neighborhood made getting out a struggle, adding that the destruction there was "catastrophic."
When the storm approached Georgia, it killed an 11-year-old girl in Seminole County when winds picked up a carport and sent it crashing through the roof of a house and struck her in the head.
And in North Carolina, one man was killed when a tree fell onto his car in Iredell County, and a man and woman died after their car hit a tree that had fallen across the road in Marion.
"Unfortunately, I think you’re going to see that number climb," said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We still haven’t gotten into some of the hardest-hit areas, particularly the Mexico Beach area."
That part of the Florida Coast suffered up to 14 feet of storm surge, Long said, adding, "very few people live to tell what it’s like to experience storm surge."
Long said many parts of the coastal panhandle were unsafe to visit, and urged people not to try to get back to their houses yet. He said President Donald Trump would have already visited Florida but hasn't because "his presence could get in the way of the response."
by Elisha Fieldstadt
Oct.12.2018
3:27 PM EDT
The death toll from Hurricane Michael's devastating march up the East Coast rose to 13 on Friday, as the storm lashed Virginia and left at least five people in the state dead.
The storm was making its way toward the Atlantic Ocean on Friday as a post-tropical cyclone with winds gusting at 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center said the storm was again gaining strength and could soon move off-shore, but still posed a risk since damaging winds extended 275 miles from its center. North Carolina, where one man was killed, could see additional storm surge. Meanwhile, parts of the Northeast could see up to 5 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.
Virginia was the latest state to get hit by the storm, which brought tornadoes and flooding to the area. Five people in the state were killed and another person is missing, according to Virginia's Department of Emergency Management. Another person was missing, officials said.
Of those killed, four drowned and one was a firefighter, identified as Lt. Brad Clark, who was responding to a traffic accident on slick roads when a tractor-trailer slammed into his engine, according to the Hanover County Fire-EMS Department. Two more emergency responders were seriously injured in the crash, as was the driver of the tractor-trailer, who had to be extracted.
Nearly half a million customers in Virginia were without power and flooding could continue to be an issue there through next week.
Another million customers were without power across Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas and Florida, where the storm first made landfall and flattened coastal Panhandle communities.
At least four people were killed in the county of Gadsden, Florida, and officials were still surveying the ravaged oceanfront neighborhoods of Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach.
Most of Mexico Beach is uninhabitable, Donald Walker, Interim Fire Chief for the city of about 1,000 people, told NBC News.
"This is a whole town that just got wiped off the face of the earth," he said. "It's as simple as there's less than 5 percent of the buildings that will be livable."
"It’s like a bomb went off," said Florida Gov. Rick Scott while touring Mexico Beach. "I mean, this is what you’d think a war zone would be like."
"This is the worst [hurricane] from what I’ve seen in a long-shot," Scott said, adding that his priorities are search and rescue and keeping people safe after the storm. He urged residents not to come back yet because the area is hazardous, but he said he feels for the people who have come back.
"Seeing their faces, they’re just devastated," he said.
Crews are trying to get food, water, electricity and cell service to those who stayed behind, but Scott said it's a challenge because they need to be airlifted into Mexico Beach.
Troy Garner, who rode out the storm there, said it was the scariest situation he and his wife had ever been in.
"We were just completely taken by surprise that it ramped up so quickly, and it's devastated our neighborhood," said Garner, whose house was damaged but not destroyed.
Julie Touchton, 42, who lives about 3 miles inland and wasn't told to evacuate, said she has never seen a storm like Hurricane Michael, and has lived near Panama City for 20 years.
"We have all gone through a Cat 3, that's nothing, but Michael was extraordinary, especially in how fast and strong he grew," she said.
Touchton and her family left their home to stay with friends because they had no power or running water. She said driving tree-covered roads in the neighborhood made getting out a struggle, adding that the destruction there was "catastrophic."
When the storm approached Georgia, it killed an 11-year-old girl in Seminole County when winds picked up a carport and sent it crashing through the roof of a house and struck her in the head.
And in North Carolina, one man was killed when a tree fell onto his car in Iredell County, and a man and woman died after their car hit a tree that had fallen across the road in Marion.
"Unfortunately, I think you’re going to see that number climb," said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We still haven’t gotten into some of the hardest-hit areas, particularly the Mexico Beach area."
That part of the Florida Coast suffered up to 14 feet of storm surge, Long said, adding, "very few people live to tell what it’s like to experience storm surge."
Long said many parts of the coastal panhandle were unsafe to visit, and urged people not to try to get back to their houses yet. He said President Donald Trump would have already visited Florida but hasn't because "his presence could get in the way of the response."
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