Category two. Instead he exploded in veracity to a category four. Its going to cause a huge amount of damage. Our hearts go out to those folks. Sandra thats it for us. Special courage continues here on the Fox News Channel with Shepard Smith. Hurricane michael, its on the way and it is expected to be historic. Im Shepard Smith on the fox news deck. Often in programming including outnumbered will not be seen today. Hurricane michael is a major category 4 storm set to make landfall somewhere around Panama City Beach, florida. It is expected to be the most powerful storm ever to hit the region. It is but an hour or two away. Lets get a live update from the National Hurricane center in miami. Back to the National Hurricane center, this is ken graham on the operant center. Its noon eastern, 11 00 central. The latest information on the Hurricane Michael. A couple of things to make note
here, the latest information we have wins still at 150 miles power. The pressure has dropped. We have the Hurricane Hunters in the system giving us the latest information, so we are constantly being updated. We are now 35 miles southwest of mexico beach, 40 miles south of panama city. Getting closer and closer to the shore. I did want to mention, as well, we are looking at the Apalachicola Airport getting wins 45 Miles Per Hour sustained gusting at Hurricane Force. The waters coming up, as well. The National Ocean service has a water level stationed there at apalachicola already reporting five and half feet of inundation. It is getting closer, we are seeing the impacts. We can see the focus here, most people tend to focus on the eye. We are looking at that movement we have been forecasting turning more to the east, as it happens. Landfall somewhere early this afternoon around mexico beach. Lets be careful, because we look at the hurricaneforce winds away from that center. It will be a larger swab then just that center. It will be bigger. Some of those rain bands are producing hurricaneforce wind gusts. Thats where you will see the danger of the wind damage but also the tornadoes. We concede some of these areas. We are getting closer and closer to land, and, again, have to focus on the big picture. You can see rainfall as far down as tampa, being impacted by the system already prayed lets look at the forecast with time again, Tropical Stormforce winds, 175 miles away from the center. A very large system. Thats what we need to think about, not just the point. Not just the cone. We are really looking at this as a swath of wind and impact. This hurricane making landfall, major damage. Catastrophic damage. All the wind, you will see trees down, Power Outages for literally weeks in this area. You see damage to buildings, roofs off, some buildings could be destroyed altogether. Remaining in hurricane with time. Not just along the coast. Anybody watching england on the alabamageorgia line, still moving into georgia. Even the Tropical Storm still getting into the carolinas. If you take that wind, you will
have trees down, Power Outages. Florida, georgia, and maybe even getting into the carolinas. Rainfall is always an issue, and thats part of the reason we are going to see the rain, 610 inches. Thats part of the reason we will see these. You will have the actual damage from the winds right there on the coast. With time, you put 46 inches of rain saturating the soil, you got Tropical Storm force wind gusts. You can see tree damage along this entire path. Write in here, 610 inches of rain, just catastrophic. And the storm surge. We have been talking about that. Half the fatalities are from the storm surge. These values are just staggering. Lifethreatening storm surge. We are already seeing five and half feet and weve got a long way to go. 914 feet possible in these areas, from Tyndall Air Force base along the cost of the river. Thats a staggering amount. Thats above ground, and you look at that and the waves on top of it could add another couple of feet. 69 feet in areas toward cedar key, even down to tampa. To have been 4 feet of inundation. I want to make note that its not even just on the coast, its on these barrier islands, they will get water. Forcing northward. The red here as above 9 feet of storm surge. Look how far some of that surge reaches england. Weve got to be aware. Even if you think you are inland, that you still could be in danger. This is ken graham here at the National Hurricane center. A speed when im Shepard Smith in new york with continuing fox News Coverage of this. Giving details of what we are seeing. Lets go over to the big wall and i will show you how this hurricane has developed. These pictures go back, this is a satellite loop. Watch this, this is the latest image. Watch when this reloads. See here . The eye wall is not very well formed. In the last eight to ten hours, that has really changed. You can watch that eye wall come together, its a very significant, almost completely round eye wall. It stretches 15 miles across. Remember, the highest winds when they talk about maximum sustained winds, 145 Miles Per Hour, thats an extremely powerful and catastrophic window
level. 145mileanhour winds are all around the outside of that i wall. The eye wall is 15 miles across. Everything the eye wall goes across will, in theory, experience winds maximum sustained at 145 Miles Per Hour. With wind gusts to 165 miles an hour. What does that do . Wind at that level i have lived through them, and there are statistics from the National Hurricane center to back this up winds at that level pick up rocks and boulders and send them as projectiles through the air. Thats what causes so much damage and destruction. Those rocks and trees break windows, they break into houses. The sustained pounding is one of the most serious problems. Where is this going, exactly . You had the National Hurricane center talked about it. We are talking about a large area that will be affected. This is the coast itself, talking about an area from about
tampa all the way up over to pensacola. You can see it is raining in pensacola. The rains are coming in tampa. I want to zoom in and show you what the storm has been doing prayed here as grandbased radar. Here is florida, apalachicola. These are where the oyster beds are that are so famous. Panama city, the miracle mile resort in panama city, but 180,000 yearround residents. I think thats right. 180,000 or so. In the county itself, 185,000. About 36,000 live in panama city itself. I want to show you what this i wall has been doing. I will zoom all the way in. This is groundbased radar that is coming to us from here. You can see this very welldefined eye wall, the center of simulation is here. Everything clear in the middle. The worst of the winds around the outside. Here is the worst of the rain. Right now, just to the north. Where is decided . There is panama city itself. This is the very tightlynet
high density area for this community. Remember, these are small towns all along here. It looks like from the last terms you heard the National Hurricane center say, rather than going north, which would get panama city in a bad way, the eye of the storm at least appears to be moving toward mexico beach. This is mexico beach. Here is panama city. Tyndall Air Force Base. I will talk about that just a minute. Mexico beach. It looks to the National Hurricane center like the eye of the storm is going to make a trip just like this, somewhere between Tyndall Air Force base and mexico beach. That is not to say anyone else is out of danger, because, remember, the hurricaneforce winds that means winds above 74 or 76 Miles Per Hour are extending 45 miles from the center. Tropical stormforce winds extend 175 miles from the cente center. This entire region from gulf breeze into destin, south walton county, panama city
beach, down into port saint joe, apalachicola, around to the big band, and certainly once you go inland to tallahassee. Here is tallahassee. The storm is expected to move in this direction. This will be a tallahassee storm without any question. The mayor of tallahassee will be on with us in just a little while. The productions from the local authorities there are people even from the tallahassee area could be without power for weeks on end. This coast is in extreme danger. Exactly where it comes ashore is going to make a significant difference because of where the Population Centers are. I want to zoom in here. Actually, lets turn that off and clear about. Zoom in here to show you exactly what we are talking about. Here is panama city and Panama City Beach. Oof, i hate it when it does that. Note here the typography of this land. If the storm is coming in here, which they now believe here is panama city if the storm is coming in here into this area, they get the backside. Remember, the storm is circulating this way so the water would be coming out. That could drain all of these areas here. St. Andrews bay, grand lagoon, all the rest around panama city. If they think the storm is going to come ashore here, the worst of it will be to the right. That is not to say these communities arent in some sort of jeopardy. I want to switch to the satellite version, here. This is Rosemary Beach and seaside south walton county. The locals call this area 30a. Its largely a secondhome community, people from atlanta, nashville, points north. Michigan, ohio. They have settled here and second homes and in some cases retirement areas. These used to be very moderatelyprized, smalltown communities with houses on stilts. Very quiet, sort of Beach Community area. That has all changed. From seaside, Down To Seacrest and Rosemary Beach. Sunnyside, laguna beach. All of this 30a area is now
heavily populated, lots of high density right around the beach. It is an upperscale area. Down here is port saint joe. The rest of this is largely rural. Fountain, this is an area where i worked and lived for years. My parents my mom lived here for 32 years. There is a lot of poverty in this area. The great concern moving into this storm, from the locals there in bay county florida and beyond, so many people have made a decision not to evacuate. The last big storm, probably oval. Way back in 1995, it was. It hit way over here to the east of pensacola. But they got a lot of really bad weather because of it, when it hit. 23 years ago. They havent seen anything like this ever on this coast. If it moves into the east of Panama City Beach in the next couple of hours, which they seem to think it will, all of this will have a lot of trouble. Mexico beach, these small communities. A bigger problem may end up
being inland. Inland is the area where there is so much poverty, and so little help for people. Then you move over to the state capital of tallahassee. Tallahassee has 181,000 people, leon county around it is a total of about 290,000 people. It is obviously the center of government in florida, with a huge election coming up. They are expecting this storm to move in this sort of a direction when it comes ashore. It is expected to come ashore right to the east of panama city. Here is the storm right now. It is expected to move in this direction. Moving just like this, and in the general direction of tallahassee. The news is better for Fort Walton Beach and destin, though they will get very strong winds and very high waves. It will be a serious event or they are. Panama city beach could very well be in hurricaneforce winds, and everything to the east of it. All the way down the big band of florida. This entire region, from cap all
the way up to pensacola, going to have a serious and historic day today. Griff jenkins is in alligator pointe, florida. That is a Beach Community local located. The weather he is a so bad. But see if we can hear from him. The weather is deteriorating. Can you hear me . I am in alligator pointe. We want to give you a look from an iphone. It is really that storm surge what theyre talking about is really going to be hitting us anyway just the water coming [no audio] shepard well, it is on and off. We will try to get there. Our reporter nicole in South Florida is actually an Panama City Beach now. Lets listen into nicole. Back to you guys. Nicole, thank you. Meantime, from all over, the storms on coming into the news. Our team is having coverage with some of those images. Omar . This afternoon we getting video showing those conditions worsening. Getting reports of downed trees, downed power lines in some areas. Areas. With stickies to some video from Shell Pointe Beaches afternoon showing those streets starting to flood there. The wind began. We are hearing that nearby and the town of mexico beach, florida, they have artie lost power. People now without power. Those Winds Gusting as you saw. A lot of live shots. We are also hearing that of course trouble in this area is greatly impacted by all of this. Several airlines already canceling flights to many of these areas. We are talking about airlines like united airlines, delta, as well as allegiant airlines. Its affecting travel across this entire region. You are looking at video from shall pointe beach, that is in the panhandle. They are starting to get those first impacts from the storm. You see the flooding right now. We can tell you that there are downed power lines in certain areas, also. We are following the story, of course, all afternoon. As soon a son anymore video comes in, we will be sure to bring that to you. Shepard we can go live now to the zone, i have been talking to about apalachicola. Here is Panama City Beach, and here is this oyster area. A community of about 2200 people near what used to be a big paper processing plant. Apalachicola, famous in the region. Phil keating is there. Phil, it looks like apalachicola is going to have an awful day. Absolutely. This is the worst it has been all morning, and it is only predicted to get worse than this over the next three or four hours. That is water. I was doing my live shots yesterday. As you can see, its three to 4 feet under water right now. As you pan off to the right, thats a parking lot our hotel. It is also practically saw ad. All of the vehicles have been moved to the highest point in the parking lot. Frequent county on the southern tip of the Big Bend Of Florida is so lowlying, most of the counties under 15 feet of elevation. The whole county is under a mandatory evacuation. Clearly, we saw plenty of people yesterday. A lot of people did evacuate, by far, not everybody. Its supposed to get possibly nine to 13 feet storm surge. Take a look at whats over here. This is the Apalachicola River. You can see the waves going from right to left. That is from the gulf, inland. Upstream. This river needs to be flowing out. But the surge and the winds are putting it all back up. Without forecast, is that upland its going to be flooding there. That water has got to go somewhere. These are some strong winds
coming through. The hotel lost power about 45 minutes ago. I guess that is the beginning of that. The cell service is still working, but it is certainly the most extreme wind and rain that we have had here today. It is a little too dangerous to be Walking Around in this, there is all kinds of debris floating around that has blown off of these storage buildings and a shrimp processing building. Its dangerous out here, for sure. That is why this whole county is under a shelter in mandatory warnings. Everyone, stay inside. Thats the order. Law enforcement, First Responders will not come to you. Its too dangerous for everybody. There is really only one road in and out for apalachicola. Highway 98. Ticket north, west, up to panama city, or east toward telecast tallahassee. Its close on east until further notice, until long after Hurricane Michael blows through
here. Then you get your Emergency Responders to assess the damage. What is anticipated is massive Power Outages, as well as a lot of fallen trees. This part of florida doesnt really have all that many palm trees. It is more pine trees. Those can be blocking roadways and power lines down. It can be really difficult for anybody to get in or out of here for a while. Shepard s cigarette there, i want to show our viewers where we are on all of this. This is where the storm is right now. This is the hurricane, and it is moving, generally speaking i should clear about, thats not exact the right. Here is where the storm is right now. Its moving generally this is that its moving generally toward mexico beach. Here is apalachicola, where phil is. Phil, they are expecting up to 15 feet of storm surge up there above high tide, which means a twostory building covered. Phil, can you hear me . I hear you, sorry. Shepard a 13foot storm surge there is a worlddanger
for you folks. Absolute. For the whole town, the population is around 2500 people, just in apalachicola alone. About 16,000 in the whole count county. We were speaking to the sheriff last night. The police chief. They expect, they fully expect, that this