PANAMA CITY, Fla. _ Thousands of people across a vast stretch of the Gulf Coast rushed to board up their homes and businesses Tuesday as Hurricane Michael strengthened into a major, Category 3 storm, threatening Florida's panhandle with powerful winds, life-threatening storm surge and torrential rain.
At its current strength, Michael would be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned late Tuesday that the storm would intensify to a Category 4, with winds topping 130 mph, before making landfall.
"#HurricaneMichael will be the strongest storm to impact portions of Florida in more than 100 years," Florida's State Emergency Response Team posted on Twitter on Tuesday night. "DO NOT IGNORE #EVACUATION ORDERS."
Earlier, Florida Gov. Rick Scott also had words of warning. "Let me be clear: Hurricane Michael is a monstrous storm, and the forecast keeps getting more dangerous," he said Tuesday at a news conference at the Citrus County Emergency Operations Center in Lecanto. "The time to prepare is right now ... . If you don't follow warnings from officials, this storm could kill you."
In Panama City, a coastal town that is home to about 37,000 people and two military bases, many homes were empty and boarded up. Downtown, almost all businesses _ ice cream and coffee shops, craft beer emporiums and seafood restaurants, pharmacies and law firms _ were shuttered.
Still, many residents had not left, flouting mandatory evacuation orders in effect in low-lying areas.
Jessica Langston, 78, who lives alone in a one-story Panama City home with a view of St. Andrew Bay, tried to reassure her daughter in Miami via cellphone she would be OK. "I'm going to stay put," she said firmly.
Not only is her home separated from the ocean by a two-lane highway, she said, but it sits atop an Indian mound and is buffered by Shell Island, a 700-acre barrier island across the bay.
On Tuesday evening, Michael was about 255 miles south of Panama City, moving north with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph.
A hurricane warning was in effect from the Alabama border to the Suwannee River mouth in Florida, and a storm surge warning was in effect from Florida's Okaloosa-Walton county line to the Anclote River near Tampa.
Scott had already declared a state of emergency for more than 35 counties and activated 2,500 Florida National Guard troops. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a pre-landfall disaster declaration giving the region access to federal resources and assistance.
The National Hurricane Center expects Michael to keep strengthening as it moves north across the eastern Gulf of Mexico overnight. It is forecast to move inland over the Florida Panhandle or the state's Big Bend area on Wednesday, then weaken as it moves northeast across the southeastern U.S. on Wednesday night and Thursday.
The hurricane center warned coastal residents that a combination of a dangerous storm surge and high tide could cause normally dry areas to be flooded.
Michael is expected to lash coastal areas of Florida, Alabama and Georgia with as much as 12 inches of rain. Farther inland, damaging winds, torrential rain and life-threatening flash floods are forecast for parts of Georgia and Alabama.
