Hurricane Michael: Panama City and Mexico Beach see devastating damage from tropical storm now tracking through South Carolina
At least six people have been killed by Hurricane Michael and more can be expected after the storm ripped through the US southeast, devastating communities in the Florida panhandle in a tempest that authorities say is the worst the region has seen since records began in 1851.
An 11-year-old girl from Georgia is among those who died in the storm, which levelled neighbourhoods in Mexico Beach and Panama Beach in Florida.
Michael has caused widespread damage, leaving more than 700,000 homes and businesses without power across three states and even blowing a train off its tracks in Florida with winds up to 155mph, according to reports. It has been estimated that more than 300,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed or badly damaged in Florida alone.
“So many lives have been changed forever. So many families have lost everything. Homes are gone. Businesses are gone,” Florida Governor Rick Scott said shortly before a planned tour of the devastation on Thursday. “Roads and infrastructure along the storm’s path have been destroyed. This hurricane was an absolute monster, and the damage left in its wake has yet to be fully understood”.
Michael, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm, was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC). The storm still carries with it the potential for major damage and loss of life, with the NHC saying that ongoing flash floods and dangerous winds should be watched for in the Carolinas and southern Virginia.
After daylight on Thursday, residents of north Florida were just beginning to take stock of the enormity of the disaster.
Damage in Panama City near where Michael came ashore on Wednesday afternoon was so extensive that broken and uprooted trees and downed power lines lay nearly everywhere.
The storm was due to began to pass over the Carolinas on Thursday, just weeks after the states were battered by Hurricane Florence’s torrential rain. The storm is projected to begin moving eastward on Friday and then make its way out to sea in the Atlantic.
During a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump promised to visit Florida soon. He said that “we will always pull through” and offered his “thoughts and prayers” to those affected by the storm. On Thursday, he described the hurricane as one of the worst the US had encountered.
“This one went very quickly, but its tremendous destruction in the areas and the path that it chose is incredible for destruction,” Mr Trump said on Thursday at the White House. “We have not seen destruction like that in a long time”.
If you want to see how the aftermath of Hurricane Michael came about live, please see our formerly live coverage of the impact below.
Additional reporting by agencies
