Death toll in Hurricane Michael continues to rise

Mexico Beach, Florida: Rescue crews confronted with shattered roads, fallen trees and kilometres of ruins struggled on Friday to get to Florida Panhandle communities hardest hit by Hurricane Michael, saying they expected the death toll of 14 to rise.

This photo released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office
shows a Florida school bus that ploughed through a
fence and into a backyard pool after a collision, but
 no one on board was hurt.CREDIT:

None of the confirmed 14 fatalities were reported from the ocean front communities, such as Mexico Beach, Port St. Joe and Panama City, that bore the brunt of the storm's wrath, and rescuers have so far been unable to conduct thorough searches there.

Read the story from The Age by Rod Nickel - “Death toll in Hurricane Michael continues to rise.”

What’s Another Way to Say ‘We’re F-cked’?

Hurricane Michael, the third most intense storm on record to make landfall in the U.S., has caused widespread destruction, turning places like Mexico Beach, Florida, into a hellscape of broken homes and overturned cars. It will be a while before we learn the full extent of the damage — and the human suffering and death — caused by the storm’s 155 mph winds and the 14-foot storm surge that swamped the coastline.

A boat sits amidst debris in the aftermath of
Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida.

Bad as the hurricane was, imagine the damage and destruction if that storm surge had been 15 feet or so higher. And if instead of receding, that wall of water never went away. That is what we could be facing in the not-so-distant future if we don’t dramatically cut fossil-fuel pollution.

Read the Rolling Stone story by Jeff Goodell - “What’s Another Way to Say ‘We’re F-cked’?”

‘Unimaginable devastation’: Biggest storm in a century slams into Florida

Florida has been hit by the first devastating effects of Hurricane Michael as the biggest storm to strike the region in a century made landfall Thursday morning (AEST).

The storm surge and waves from Hurricane Michael
batter the beachfront homes in the Florida Panhandle. 

The powerful Category 4 storm brought torrential rainfall, hurricane-force winds of up to 250 km/h and life-threatening water surges to the Florida Panhandle.

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned of “unimaginable devastation”, saying it would be the worst storm in 100 years.

Read the story from The New Daily - “‘Unimaginable devastation’: Biggest storm in a century slams into Florida.”