Potentially Catastrophic" Hurricane Michael Makes Landfall in Florida Panhandle as Category 4 Storm❗*

*"
Hurricane Michael slammed ashore near Mexico Beach, Fla., Wednesday, becoming the most powerful storm on record to hit Florida’s Panhandle.

The Category 4 storm’s center made landfall in a region rimmed with tourist beaches and fishing villages, while packing maximum-sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm could also push up to 14 feet of ocean water onto the coast while drenching parts of three states with as much as a foot of rain.

“This is the worst storm that the Florida Panhandle has seen in a century,” said Gov. Rick Scott at a news conference Wednesday morning. “All along our coast, communities are going to see unimaginable devastation.”

Michael is the first Category 4 storm to hit the Panhandle since 1851, when record-keeping began, a hurricane center spokesman said.