I live in Panama City, and I stayed because we weren't in an evacuation zone. They told us it was a cat 3. I've lived in Florida my whole life, so I've been through several cat 3 hurricanes. It comes with the territory, if you live in Florida you're eventually gonna see a hurricane. The problem was that by the time they told us it was a high 4, almost a 5 it was too late to leave.
@@barrywainwright3391 Ivan was a cat three. Parker was out of power for a week and nothing else. Hell I still had to report to work at Tyndall the day after it hit. The year before Michael a Cat 3 was expected to hit the Base. Mandatory evacuation. Guess what, became a whole lot of nothing. The day after had to go to work. Base couldn't even function properly for a week waiting for people. I've been through storms before. They come and go. You run every time the Weather channel posts a doom and gloom, you won't even be able to run a business. And believe me, they hype stuff up all the time. I can't even count how many times they have claimed, "storm of the century" only for it to be a light rain and clear sky by the afternoon. I lived there a long time. You make stuff sound worse then it actually is all the time, people won't buy it when shit really hits the fan.
@@wrongway1100 You're absolutely right. Although most people posting on these videos probably aren't even from Florida. If they were they would understand why people don't evacuate
I'm glad you all made it through OK. I think you're going to be telling this story to your grandchildren. I've been through a bunch of hurricanes in my 55 years but this one was just monsterous. Me and my parents rode it out because we thought it was going to be a low end cat 4. They just upgraded it to Cat 5. I'm happy we made it out alive and with a house intact, more or less. Many weren't so blessed. Thank you for recording your experience. I hope you have a long career in meteorology
I live a mile from this location and we rode it out just like most people here. I remember watching tv and this storm became a monster at the last minute 40 miles from land fall 155 mph winds, by this time it was to late. It toke us 2 days to cut our way out of our neighbor hood. One of my neighbors was one of the first to die in this storm he was an older man and suffered a heart attack when a 50 ft pine tree crushed his house. It then had taken 4 days before they could remove his body from his house. It was like a bad dream for the first 2 weeks after the storm. And it’s been over 2 months since this monster destroyed our area and it still looks like a nuclear bomb had been dropped on us.
Jesus is the only way. We have all sinned and deserve Hell. Sins that may seem small in our eyes are big in God's and are worthy of Hell, such as lying lusting and stealing. But if we repent and trust only in Jesus, he is faithful and will save us from Hell and give us eternal life in Heaven. Trust in Jesus! John 3:16 Romans 6:23😊❤❤❤
These things never look as bad on a video as they do when you’re actually seeing them in person . I’ve been through a few and even a cat 2 or 3 will hv you praying and begging to get through it
thanks to this comment this is why i keep saying a hurricane to hit where i live because i don't see them possibly damaging the townhouse i live in but i know if i do get hit by one im gonna regret saying i want to hurricane to hit me
Jesus is the only way. We have all sinned and deserve Hell. Sins that may seem small in our eyes are big in God's and are worthy of Hell, such as lying lusting and stealing. But if we repent and trust only in Jesus, he is faithful and will save us from Hell and give us eternal life in Heaven. Trust in Jesus! John 3:16 Romans 6:23😊❤❤
@@ricka.2148 you're not wrong but the severity is a bit exaggerated. I'm here every day for the most part it's business as usual there is still damage and many stores closer to the Parker Area are gone and going to be completely gutted. The majority of the issues are in the Parker Area outside of the Base and areas around Mexico Beach. Callaway itself received very minimal damage all things considered. That's not to say there's not stuff that needs to be done but for the most part it's as good as can be expected
Same here, I live in Indonesia a tropical country, rarely any thunderstorm, but when the storms come they get really windy, one time I got my roof blown out, but no big deal because it was a zinc roof
My family and I live in Callaway, Florida, and we never seen this type of Destruction. This town needs this to stay in the news for as long as possible. Our community is completely annihilated. People don't have homes or jobs to get back to. The last 4 weeks has been like living in a war zone. A lot of people need this help this to this area to stay in this area. I fear that wants to MEDIA leaves, all of this attention and help will go with it. It's going to take many, many years for this town to rebuild. We are still trying to locate all our friends. We had a ton of damage but my community and my neighbors suffered the most. Please as you watch these videos, addisu your prayer. I know people are talking good and trying to keep everyone spirits up but everyone is still suffering from such a traumatic and devastating hurricane. My family and I completely underestimated the storm. The last we had even bothered to check on it was early that morning when it was like a category 2. We have lived through many hurricanes and that's why so many people stayed. It was not a dumb decision for people to stay.
I grew up in tornado alley and now live in NC about 3 hours inland. Hugo was my first in 89, was at my grandparents. That was my first experience and it was a cat 1 when it hit Charlotte. Floyd was a nightmare in 99. Isabel was a cat 3 at landfall, but remember that one. Matthew in 2016 flooded areas an hour away in 2 directions. We lost power for 28 hours. Flash forward to 2018 and Florence. She topped Floyd. 22” almost in my area, I’m inland. 4 days of constant rain and we thought day 3 was the worst, not even close. 10” on the last day and severe weather on the backside of the storm. Same areas heavily flooded by Matthew got it again. Then Michael a month later....5” from him but the saving grace it moved quickly. I hate to think if Florence would’ve been a 4 how bad it would’ve been.
Some of the best footage I've seen. I live over in Orange Beach I remember watching Michael staying up watching the news waiting for it to turn NEast it was perfectly due south of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores about 3am and it finally started to turn East. I've heard Panama City is still recovering.
SAMZIRRA I'm not sure why people go to hotels. I've seen people do it. Maybe these people just happened to have no other choice but I've seen people leave their homes which have survived multiple hurricanes, and go to a hotel that had to be closed for three months because of damage from a previous hurricane. I don't know why people feel safe in hotels. Especially cheap motels. But apparently they do.. Putting far too much faith in them to be honest. I mean, if you love in a trailer or mobile home in general, sure, I'd maybe take a motel. But when you've got a structurally sound home? No.
@@BMarie774 Most of the people at this hotel with us lived in local mobile homes. I think they wanted to stay near their homes while also taking cover. I know its hard to believe, but our hotel held up really well compared to other structures near by.
Jake Smith I can understand the mobile home thing. Or just bad luck and ending up in one during a hurricane. Also, homelessness is a factor. And I'd definitely take a motel or hotel over a mobile home any day during a hurricane. But I've seen people leave structurally sound homes, that have survived multiple hurricanes, to take shelter in hotels that previously had to be closed for a while. Like homes that certainly would make it through far better. And HAVE made it through far better. Just doesn't make sense. But there seems to be a "safety" complex about it for many people. As for this motel, I'm glad it held up and everyone was alright.
DAAAAAMMMNN!!! I'm never moving to Florida! Great video, guys! I'm glad you're ok. It surprises me to hear birds chirping afterward. How do they survive such insane winds? We are so small when it comes to the power of nature.
Sandra Buechner Just move to the west or central part of florida theres barley any hurricanes, ive lived in florida for 10 years and only saw hurricane irma at a category 2 hurricane, hurricane dorian is next if it makes landfall over here.
I survived it, and there was not one sound besides of the sirens coming from 231 to rescue trapped poeple it was not until late October of 2018 that I saw flocks of birds.
That was incredible ....You only had a couple days warning Until this came roaring ashore . I've been a hurricane chaser from home for 15 + years. That was definitely the strongest storm I've ever seen hit Since I Was not Watching Camille in 69 or Andrew in 92
Look how beautiful and peaceful it is in the first minute before everything started to change. So sad. They are strong 💪 and they will rebuild better and more beautiful then ever. God Bless. We are behind you. #StayStrongPanamaCity
@@domreactssosa4208 I understand. NO matter where you go, there are Assholes. 💩 The worst ones, who use a devastating crisis to hurt others like steal, vandalize.
This is really terrifying. I live by arctic circle in north Sweden and im happy if we get a thunderstorm! Vertical waterfall fk this... Amazing footage!
I rode this storm out in Lynn Haven. By the time we found out how strong it was, it was too late to fet out. We were very blessed. Never again will I stay for a storm.
Imagine if it was just wind blowing that hard in a sandy area. It would literally sand blast the paint and any thing soft down to bare metal. That's some serious power they have
Native floridian, I saw it coming by cuba and I thought this one looks like trouble. It is rare for a storm, once organized and looking like it can stand a beating, to enter the gulf like that and not seriously intensify. Forget the shear forecast, it's making its own weather now, it can fight. Gulf water is deep too, and warm. I said the same thing after harvey crossed mexico, that this one needs extra watching. I appreciate models, but instinct right? Worth something. Thank you for the video. Glad you are okay.
agreed, when i saw what the eyewall was doing on the day before the storm, i was baffled as to why no one was talking about what this storm was actually about to do. it seemed like the storm had all the signs, but they were only looking at the models. have professional meteorologists become so dependent on the models that they cant do actual meteorology any more? it seemed like they werent even paying attention to the actual images of the storm because they were so focused on the models, but the intensity modeling should have been thrown out the moment the storm started defying them, which was pretty much from the start in this case.
@@Speedj2 they didn't call it bc by then they knew they had screwed up and that type of call being that late would have looked bad on their part 😒 I went to bed with it as a cat 2 and woke up the morning before as a cat 4 by then our town had nooooo gas anywhere and the roads were littered with people trying to leave town 😭
@@ICECREAMCAKEULTRA3000 kinda made me feel disapointed for some reason. Ohh Jacksonville is a BORING city, needed some excitement. Some good 60-70 mph winds would be fine thou.
ALways amazed with all of the cars out on the road after a major storm - I would be afraid of getting low on gas and it being a long ways away to a gas station.
Yeah it's definitely something to consider if you plan on leaving. Getting back home isn't easier either. I live in Pender county NC where Flo hit last year and it took people 2 to 4 WEEKS to get back home.
It was terrifying. When we took close video footage, we would hold the camera so that it was looking out the window while we were off to the side in case the window imploded! Good Observation!
Anna Koerner yes! The train you see in the video was the one of several that was tipped! Our building actually blocked the winds from rolling the train right here but a block away where our building wasn’t preventing the winds from hitting it at the perfect angle, the cars were all on their side
@Abas Abd There's nowhere in Florida where a landslide can happen you dufus lmao. I live here,and survived Michael. It was not fun. We all know that hurricanes will come and trash the place and kill people. It's happened before and it'll happen again. Sad to see how the weather channel and national news over hypes thunderstorms and then when a major event does happen, nobody believes them. Ever hear the tale of the boy who cried wolf? That's exactly what happened here. Fortunately, lots of people did actually leave. But this beast was so big that they still weren't spared the nightmare of the howling winds and rain. It was a major storm all the way to Atlanta Georgia. They don't tell you that on TV.
Hurracunn's are badass. I was in Hugo in NC, it looked like an atomic bomb, and the rain came like a curtain you could clearly see the wall of rain coming with the edge of the storm.
Been through outer fringes of David (79) Andrew (from Broward county thank God it wobbled) Brushed by some big ones (Floyd, Mathew, Irma ) Ground Zero for Frances and Gene (east Central Florida) Charlie, Wilma etc... Chased surf for 2 decades, study these things for surf , have a very firm grasp of what reality is when these strike.... And it always never does it justice on the fury, danger, power and destruction your left with after one. I thought 20 hrs was bad in a cat 2 Let alone 40 hrs of Dorian or 10 hrs of a Michael...a truly mesmorizing phenomenon of power. Great coverage guy's , you can never underestimate these once in the high 3 & up categories of strength.
You mean to tell me you actually headed down there to "experience" your first major hurricane - Michael??! I got caught down there in a deadly hurricane, but not by MY own choosing. The hurricane was called Camille - back in 1969 (and I was 16). It was horrific & terrifying, & many people died in it. I have never been more frightened in my life. So now, if there are hurricane warnings in Florida, you couldn't pay me to head down there. No way.
They claim this is a cat 4. I disagree. The winds were magically reported as 150mph right below low end cat 5 at 155mph. This damage is cat 5 level. Terrible storm. Glad you all made it ok
It was probably a Cat 4, it didn't have the radar presentation of a Category 5, there wasn't a distinct moat between the concentric eyewalls, and the inner core wasn't symmetric either. I am not surprised with the fact that the ADT satellite assessment ended up with the same conclusion
I live in Ireland and the closest storm I can relate to this is ophiela which was only a cat 1 when hitting , 3 people died and 385,000 people where without power, it's bad for us anyway , we often get wind storms in winter but with generally gusts of between 60 and 80 mph
I live 5 miles due north across the bay from Mexico beach and TAFB. My home was a slab. Nothing. Sitting here in a converted cargo trailer. Home not rebuilt yet watching this and one eye on Dorian. I hope loss of life will be minimal but what I am seeing with Dorian , I fear fifty to a hundred thousand will perish in the Bahamas as we speak. It is landfalling now. Will be the deadliest storm in history. 1:41 CDT 9/1/2019 Prayers.
So sorry for your loss and the terrifying experience. We are in Jax and my heart is always heavy for those in South Florida...I can't imagine what the Bahama's are like now...so sad...Take Care...God Be with you!
You all captured the sound like i was standing there with you. Listen at high volume headphones it is awesome! I live in Orlando and we didnt get any effects of Michael
Plus it was super loud and the bass was super deep in real life so headphones are the only way to watch this haha. Glad you didn’t see any effects from this monster!
Many think that it hit you guys as a cat.5. it was reportedly only 3 mph from being one, and I think that it probably was a 5. It was still a low cat 4 when it hit us, 50 miles inland.
I REALLY SAW SOME FANTASTIC FOOTAGE OF MICHAEL ON.MY PHONE WHEN THE WIND WAS BLOWING AND YOU COULD NOT SEE IN FRONT OF YOU WITH THE WIND AND WATER IT SCARED ME AND I WASNTTHERE...
Went 20 days without power, a bag of ice was worth its weight in gold! One of the biggest challenges of my life. I'm still displaced while tied up in litigation to get my insurance pay out for my house. I'm one of many in this situation, still!
I moved my family to Ft Lauderdale years ago. We only lasted three months. Being from central GA, I was not used to such weather conditions. I don’t know how my granddaddy and his family lasted this long. I’m afraid of thunderstorms much less hurricanes.continuous prayers of protection of you all and your families.
I was in the hurricane, the air force base caught the winds as a cat 5 not 4. They just dont admit it's a 5 because the insurance companies would have to give us more hurricane damage money
Thank God for that....but the government still isnt giving us the money we need for recovery and so the recovery time is being stretched out in years whereas people from Irma almost got a pretty quick recovery
@@cheyannenolin893 We were told that they were helping elderly and disabled first, then to wait ,wait ,wait ....help never really came . FEMA said they were not going to even count Hurricane Dennis, (which threw a 75 year old pine on the house and my car and damaged me too)with haven been heavily damaged in Ivan,both in .W. Florida. Don't believe the b.s. and do what u have to, to survive and learn to thrive again...Good luck!
Im here because of both. I just watched Dorian but was in Micheal only two blocks away from where this is being shot. Im still crying because of knowing all those who have died during and after were murdered. These both were man made and have taken every single life that they hit. Nothing will ever be ok for any of us. They are killing us all. And no body is standing up to stop it
That hurricane destroyed my home and impacted my very way of life. I've lived in panama for almost 20 years and i never thought something like this would happen to me. It seems unreal
We moved from Panama City Beach in August of 18'. Lucky move on our part. Former neighbors said it was pretty bad... the people who bought our house lost the entire roof.
I used to live in St. Andrews, down by the marina there - everything is gone, and I'm heartbroken that Panama City, and the outlaying areas have received no help, along with Mexico Beach.
Some good things come out of this terrible storm. Panama City can now build structures that can with stand cat 3 and higher winds. It really gives s chance to rebuild with safety and caution
I'd like to know the truth about Hurricane Ivan's true category in N.W. Florida, because it literally roared from 10pm to 8am and Dennis 10 months later, not that it roared but the eyewall was outrageously intense, both of them. They destroyed us.
It's insane how well the trees took it! But then again, these tree species evolved to withstand such storms. Obviously, many trees get taken out, but many also remain that trees in other regions, if they were over in the Gulf, they would not. This was filmed quite well! Little bit of a scare with the roofing flying into the parking lot.
Most of the trees outside that windoq did fair ok. They were fully stripped of needles and several were pulled down, especially to the right of the view during the time we took shelter in the hallway. Otherwise, the area looked like a massive EF3/4 tornado came through with the amount of trees that were snapped at the base or midway up the trunk. Only those that were somewhat sheltered behind a building made it somewhat ok
Worst kind of destruction I have ever seen. Driving through panama city, Mariana and a few other cities down there was crazy. Pictures and video do not do justice to how bad it is.
if this storm was heading into the U.K. I’d be excited and fearful at the same time. I can’t believe the power of it. It looks absolutely insane. We are familiar with hurricane force gusts during some of our storms but these gusts are on another level. It looks almost like your in a tornado at times.
We get them in the Western Isles, but generally we're too small for the UK to make a fuss over I think. If even a fraction of the weather events that have happened to us happened on mainland UK, they would have been declared a national emergency lol.
Maybe a dumb comment, but I have to imagine that every single bird in the path of a storm of that magnitude must be dead. Where could they possibly take refuge? Trees would be no safe haven.
Believe it or not, within a few hours I saw birds flying back in to the trees...or what was left of the trees. I did see a few dead squirrels and cats though. Very sad.
@@apopkaflowerchild9399 Thanks for responding to my comment. That's amazing, in reference to the birds returning. Also sad about the other animals killed by the storm, but I guess that's "nature."
I live to the east of landfall at Alligator Point. Three days after the storm, I went with a group of friends to help clean up the old Port St. Joe Beach theater. This beautiful town and certainly the theater were devastated-the destruction in Port St. Joe was mind numbing-I didn't know what to feel, so I felt nothing and just went to work. The theater had lost its entire roof so was filled with muck and sea grass. We began with shovel and wheelbarrow to begin the clean up-as was everyone else in town. In one shovel-full of muck, I found the remains of a bluejay, bright blue feathers standing out in the grey/brown tangle of stuff. I felt that and all the devastation all at once-and had to sit down-to gather myself for a minute before I could get up and start again. It will be a long time before normalcy returns to these areas-and then "normal" will be something very different than what it was before.
@@denouemen Very touching account. Thanks for responding. My most vivid memory of such things was the sight of literally thousands of dead fish and birds on South Padre Island, TX in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Allen in August 1980. I had access at that time as a young 18 year-old photojournalist armed with a 35mm camera and a "Texas Department of Public Safety Press Pass." I still have those photos of all the dead animals, and I guess that's why I posted my initial remark above.
Shumla 7 Ranch animals can sense weather and natural occurrences like that so days before the storm hit we noticed a lot of the wildlife was gone. We even went to the beach the Saturday before and didn’t notice any birds. We had mandatory evacuation in the zone we live in and the day we came back to our house we saw the typical deer on the side of the road grazing, so we knew they found somewhere to just hunker down if they didn’t make it out before. They don’t call it “animal instincts” for nothing!!
I know this was a bad storm, but there is no excuse for the roof to be leaking like that without a tornado touching down. Buildings should be built to withstand the worst storms with minimal damage. When Ike struck here in 2008, a bunch of my neighbors lost shingles and vents on their roofs, my house had zero damage. You just have to buy a quality roof and install it correctly. Most roofers use two nails per shingle piece, you should use four. This building probably had a metal roof so there really is no excuse. What it comes down to is cutting cost in building these new structures.
It takes a LOT more than correctly installed shingles to withstand a hurricane, and besides this wasn't a shingle roof. Or a metal one. And this wasn't Ike either, but a very strong hurricane where even the best isn't any guarantee you'll come through intact, much less undamaged. Care in construction is only a part of the picture and luck plays a bigger role than you think.
Actually Edward, Andrew hit as a Cat 4 and was not upgraded to a 5 until 10 years later... Look it up. In my opinion, the same thing will happen with Michael.
Hi Steve. Just in case you don't see my comment to Edward, Michael is actually very comparable to Andrew. In fact, Andrew's pressure at landfall was 922mb, while Michael's was 918mb.
@Redeemed obviously haven't seen all of the footage of this storm. Mexico Beach was flattened. Houses ripped off of the foundations. I also went through hurricane Andrew and the homes at that time were not built up to hurricane code. It wasn't until Andrew went through that houses had to pass hurricane code when they were built.
This was one mile from house. We rode it out. I built my house to take a Cat 4 and it survived. But this was no cat 4 it was a cat 5. Tyndall AFB weather station recorded winds at 167mph and gust of 201 when it was destroyed