As for the many people who ignored orders to evacuate, Long said Wednesday that people “who stick around and experience storm surge unfortunately don’t usually live to tell about it.”

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham is warning that a Category 4 hurricane will bring catastrophic damage to Florida’s Panhandle. About 8 percent of Florida’s occupied housing stock are mobile homes, but it’s more than double that, or 22 percent, for counties in Michael’s path. Though Pensacola is not projected to get dangerous storm surges, tropical storm force winds are predicted in the area.
Hurricane Michael is downgraded to a tropical storm, but tornadoes are spotted in Georgia and Florida.