NATIONWIDE — Hurricane Michael was actually a Category 5 storm when it slammed into the Florida Panhandle last October, federal forecasters say.
- NHC forecasters: Hurricane Michael sustained winds were 160 mph
- New speed partially came from data not immediately available after storm
- New estimate makes Michael only the 4th Category 5 storm to hit U.S.
- RELATED:
The National Hurricane Center made the announcement Friday morning after an in-depth, post-storm analysis of wind speeds, surface pressures, Doppler radar information, plus data that wasn't immediately available after Michael made landfall, forecasters there said.
They determined that the final wind intensity was 5 mph faster than the previous sustained wind-speed estimate of 155 mph, bumping Hurricane Michael to Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
This makes Michael the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since Andrew in 1992, they said, and only the fourth on record (the others are the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and 1969's Hurricane Camille).
Michael was also the strongest hurricane landfall on record in the Panhandle and second Category 5 landfall along the Gulf Coast. The storm killed 57 people in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Hundreds of Panhandle families displaced by the storm are still living in tents and campers, six months later. FEMA housing assistance has expired for many families. Damages are in the billions.
“I hope this news serves as a strong wake up call to those prioritizing politics over real people fighting to get by," Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said in a released statement. "The Panhandle has so many families struggling as they piece their lives back together bit by bit — we need relief now."
Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, on October 10, 2018 and decimated the town and nearby Tyndall Air Force Base. The name Michael, along with Florence, was officially retired as a hurricane name last month.