October 10, 2018

Hurricane Michael Just Slammed Into Florida With 155-MPH Winds

The National Weather Service says it’s like an incoming tornado.

NOAA

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, with 155 mph winds. About 375,000 people are under a mandatory evacuation, but it’s unclear how many people have left.

A rare extreme wind warning is in effect in parts of the Panhandle, and the National Weather Service is advising Floridians to treat the winds as they would treat an incoming tornado.

Houses are being destroyed in Mexico Beach.

Michael is easily bending large trees.

The wind isn’t the only aspect of the storm that has forecasters worried. A storm surge up to 14 feet could inundate the area and devastate local communities. 

As the storm moves inland, it’s also expected to impact parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Update, October 10, 6:40 p.m. ET: Experts say the storm surge could force red tide—a toxic algae bloom that’s been ravaging Florida’s coast in the past months—ashore and into coastal neighborhoods. Red tide can be deadly for marine mammals, fish, and sea turtles, and can cause respiratory problems for people, but it’s unclear what would happen if the bloom is pushed inland. “A storm surge or king tide could bring red tide up onto land,” Larry Brand, a professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami, told Bloomberg. “The toxin would get into the air and people would be breathing it.”

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate