On the heels of Florence, Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhand on October 10. Hurricane Michael was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall. It was the strongest storm on record in the Florida Panhandle and was the fourth-strongest landfalling hurricane in the United States, in terms of wind speed.
The hurricane strengthened rapidily in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching major hurricane status on October 9, peaking as a high-end Category 4 hurricane. Approaching the Florida Panhandle, Michael attained peak winds of 155 mph as it made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida. As it moved inland, the storm weakened and began to take a northeastward trajectory toward Chesapeake Bay, weakening to a tropical storm over Georgia.
By October 28, at least 60 deaths had been attributed to the storm, including 45 in the United States and 15 in Central America. Hurricane Michael caused at least $11.28 billion in damages, including $100 million in economic losses in Central America, $6 billion in destroyed U.S. fighter jets at Tyndall Air Force Base, and at least $1.5 billion in insurance claims in the U.S. Losses to agriculture and timber alone exceeded $3.68 billion.
Along the Florida panhandle, the cities of Mexico Beach and Panama City suffered the worst of Michael, with castastropic damage reported due to the extreme winds and storm surge. As of November 4, about 600 people remain in shelters.
The 3rd of November, Ohio DR had three teams leave for Panama City, Florida. The had a 7-man mud out team, along with a two peron feeding team. A separate assessor/chaplain team also went to the Panhandle to aleve the devastation to the people along with giving hope in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Please pray for their safe return home November 11, 2018.
