The remnants of Hurricane Michael — the most powerful storm on record to strike Florida’s Panhandle — swept through Georgia on Thursday on a path toward the Carolinas after leaving widespread destruction and at least two deaths in its wake.

In little more than a day, a Category 1 storm became a “worst-case scenario” Category 4. The already bad 2018 hurricane season has gotten even worse.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hurricane Michael became the second major storm to make landfall this year. Michael is an incredibly dangerous, history-making storm, bringing catastrophic high winds and deadly storm surge to Florida’s Panhandle.

Hurricane Michael made landfall Wednesday on the Florida Panhandle with winds of 155 miles per hour. A hurricane reaches Category 5 status when winds reach 157 miles per hour.

Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle with frightening fury.

The Category 4 storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 155 mph as it made landfall near Mexico Beach.

Hurricane Michael rapidly gained strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday night and continued to intensify Wednesday morning, threatening to become the most intense hurricane on record to strike the Florida Panhandle. The dangerous Category 4 hurricane has winds up to 145 mph, and is predicted to make landfall Wednesday afternoon.

Residents of northwest Florida had until early Tuesday to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Michael, forecast to crash ashore midweek as a major Category 3 storm with "life-threatening" flash flooding possible.

Tropical Storm Michael has strengthened overnight and is nearing hurricane-force winds on Monday morning as it sets its sights on the Florida Panhandle.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott already declared a state of emergency in 26 counties in the northern part of the state on Sunday.

A Travelers Cos. Inc. unit has successfully obtained a declaratory judgment it has no duty to defend a Florida hotel group under its commercial general liability coverage in connection with $2.4 million in fines and other costs it incurred stemming from a data breach.

Despite the monster storms this hurricane season and in 2017, Katrina remains No. 1 on the list of costliest hurricanes. But a twist on the list, with today’s population calculated into historic storms, puts a Florida storm in the top spot, with Katrina at No. 3 and Florida storms otherwise dominating.

A group of insurance companies are reportedly on the hook for the sum of $9.7 million relating to an accident that occurred two years ago.

With small claims cases in Florida spiraling out of control, a group of insurers is looking to confront the law firms who are thought to be contributing to the rise of insurance costs in the state.

An early morning fire that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars to a business began when a car hit the building early Saturday (Sept. 22) morning, according to Tampa Fire Rescue.

As Hurricane Florence surged toward land last week, meteorologists and emergency agencies took notice. The storm was a Category 4 hurricane, the second-strongest type, and it was drawing a bead on the Carolina coast.

Insured losses from Tropical Storm Gordon, which made landfall near the Alabama-Mississippi border Tuesday night with 70 mph sustained wind speeds, will be approximately $125 million, according to Karen Clark & Co.

Tropical Depression Gordon was expected on Thursday to dump more rain on central U.S. states, while Hurricane Florence, a monster Category 3 storm, churned toward Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said.