Michael Making Landfall News Today

Look at the big breakers now. there should be 40, 50 feet of beach here and for the most part sweeping all the way up to where we are. it is coming. as officials say, if you are where you are if you havent evacuated yet stay there and ride it out. >> absolutely. thank you so much. bay county, florida is in the cross hairs of this storm. bay county includes the area where the eye wall could make landfall. we are talking panama city and panama city beach. joining me on the phone is deputy chief of...

>> reporter: very much so, john. in fact, this was a quick-moving hurricane. a lot of people said they didnt feel like they had enough time to prepare for it to go from a category 2 to category 4 overnight while they were sleeping especially those who made the decision to try to ride this out. a lot of people were very scared today. this was not the decision they thought they were make frg themselves. we are still a few hours from michael making landfall. we have seen a storm drain ripped off by...

City beach where the eye wall could make landfall in the next few hours. this is a very wide storm. it is going to see some towns and cities that are 50, 60 miles away will see hurricane force winds and deal with the storm surge. i want to go to destin. its such a great fishing location. victor blackwell is there. what are you seeing? >> reporter: the completely abandoned the town. im at the harbor walk village where it is full of restaurants and shops. those are all closed. there is no one real...

Officials expect although there are about 45 to 50 miles west of potential landfall of the storm that there will be damage here and flooding here, three to six inches of rain expected, a storm surge of five to eight feet here, as well. i spoke with a man who lives here and decided to move ten miles west to get away from the storm and says he expects everything to be okay. a lot of his friends decided to stay. they made that decision when this was a category 2 storm. they woke up this morning and...

Of about nine feet. it will be enough to flood the coastal areas, the beach zone. the waterfront areas will see water maybe going into the first floors of some of the structures. the wind here could be devastating. 145 miles per hour sustained gusts in the gulf and it still has yet to make landfall. it still has a chance to strengthen even more. no storm has ever hit the florida panhandle with as much ferosity. governor rick scott said the time to evacuate has come and gone. now it is time whate...

Brought it up that georgia needs to start paying attention to this because it could still be a category 2 when it crosses over that florida georgia line as it is moving so fast. this is important for more than one state to be paying attention to. thanks so much. lets get to the east of where we expect the eye to make landfall. gary tuchman is in shell buoypo beach, florida. how has it been changing? >> reporter: the last hour and a half we have had a driving rain. im here east of panama city and...

Stronger. it did. and now it is a category 4, the most powerful storm ever to hit the florida panhandle and now people have to live with the consequences of these decisions. did they get the warnings they need? were public officials sounding the alarms early enough? those are questions people will ask over the next coming hours and coming days as hurricane michael makes landfall. our special live coverage continues right after this. - i get headaches.

Stronger. lets get to jennifer gray with the latest. >> the storm has strengthened now 150 miles per hour winds. that is not even the gusts. those are sustained winds with gusts of 175. to reach a category 5 it has to have winds of 157. we are still a category 4. we are a strong major hurricane. this could strengthen just a little bit more before making landfall. with this storm about 50 miles from the coast we will not see that much more strengthening before it does so. hurricane force winds ex...

Crucial. no one has seen a storm like this hit the panhandle before because no storm like this has hit the panhandle before. it is now a category 4 storm. we just got word that sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. its a category 4 storm that seems to be trying to reach category 5 before it makes landfall. the damage here could be devastating. hurricane michael, the eye wall still a couple hours away from making direct impact on the coast. the wind beginning to pick up here. our special live co...

Michael. >> diane, stay with us, well get back to you within the hour. but as we note, michael is making landfall, but is continuing to strengthen. michael making landfall across the florida gulf coast. well be back in just a moment. ] say hello to your fairy godmother, alice. oh and look they got gain scent beads and dryer sheets too!