Hurricane Michael crosses over Georgia as a category 3 

  • Hurricane Michael has 150 mph winds and is moving northeast at 14 mph. A Category 4 or stronger hurricane has never made landfall in the Florida Panhandle.

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Matthew Enfinger and Shiann Sivell

Hurricane Michael struck mainland Florida  around 2 p.m. near Panama City with winds at 155 mph.

According to a 5 p.m. update by Bulloch County Public Safety/EMA, Hurricane Michael has sustained winds at 125 mph. 

Georgia continues to be under a tropical storm warning and a tornado watch. According to Bulloch County Public Safety/EMA, tropical storm force winds are expected in Statesboro around 9 p.m. and will continue until Thursday morning around 10 a.m.

{{tncms-inline account=”Jim Cantore” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here comes that devastating eyewall of Michael. Still lightning in it! <a href="https://t.co/UNumrXhh89">pic.twitter.com/UNumrXhh89</a></p>— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimCantore/status/1050054877953576960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/JimCantore/status/1050054877953576960″ type=”twitter”}}

According to a 4 p.m. update by the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Michael will continue to produce life-threatening, hurricane-force winds well inland across portions of southwestern Georgia this evening, as the core of the hurricane continues to move inland. 

The NHC warns that heavy rainfall could produce life-threatening flash flooding into portions of southeast Georgia. 

Parts of southeast Georgia still have a 80-90 percent chance of receiving tropical storm force winds. 

According to Bulloch County Public Safety/EMA, some downed trees and power lines are possible. Power outages are expected.

The hurricane is expected to die down to a Category 1 by Thursday at 2 a.m. as it travels further to Atlanta.

The George-Anne will provide more information as it becomes available.

For updates on the closing, visit the GS alert page.

To monitor Hurricane Michael, visit the following links:

https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/alert/

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

https://www.weather.gov/

http://ready.ga.gov/be-informed/hurricanes/

http://ready.ga.gov

www.511ga.org

Shiann Sivell, The George-Anne Enterprise Reporter, gaspecial@georgiasouthern.edu