From BBC

One of the strongest storms in recorded history to hit the US has battered north-west Florida, flooding beach towns and snapping trees.
Rescue services are waiting for daylight to assess the full impact of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall on Wednesday afternoon as a category four storm with 155mph (250km/h) winds.
Two people, including a child, were killed by falling debris.
Having weakened to a tropical storm, Michael is on its way to the Carolinas.

Storm-surge warnings are in place between Panama City Beach and Keaton Beach in Florida, and between Ocracoke Inlet and Duck in North Carolina, the US National Hurricane Center says.
There are fears for people who ignored evacuation warnings in some of the areas now flooded.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were left without electricity in Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

How powerful was Michael when it landed?
Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, at around 14:00 (18:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
It ranks among the most powerful hurricanes to hit the US in terms of wind speed and barometric pressure, comparable to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Michael was so strong as it swept into Florida that it remained a hurricane for hours as it moved further inland.
Its rapid intensification caught many by surprise, although the storm later weakened.
Unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico turbo-charged the storm from a tropical depression on Sunday.

On Tuesday it was still a category two hurricane but by Wednesday morning it had reached borderline category five, the highest level.
Who are the victims?
Florida officials say a man was killed when he was crushed in an incident involving a tree in Gadsden County.
In Seminole County, Georgia, a metal car-shelter lifted by a gust of wind hit a mobile home, killing a girl of 11.
Travis Brooks, director of Seminole County’s emergency management agency, told ABC News there was “complete and total devastation”.
The entire county was “pitch black” and there were no clear roads, he said.
Michael earlier reportedly killed at least 13 people as it passed through Central America: six in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador.

How badly was Florida hit?
More than 370,000 people in Florida were ordered to evacuate but officials believe many ignored the warning.
The coastal city of Apalachicola reported a storm surge of nearly 8ft (2.5m).
“There are so many downed power lines and trees that it’s almost impossible to get through the city,” local mayor Van Johnson was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Images from Mexico Beach show many homes submerged in water, and there was severe damage to buildings in the state’s Panama City area.
A journalist with the Tampa Bay Times reached Mexico Beach, where they found neighborhoods that “looked like a child’s playroom after a massive tantrum”.
“Homes looked like doll houses, one side exposed to the elements. Soggy piles of furniture were pushed against the back walls.”
“One building burned to the ground, no one there to fight the flames,” the newspaper reported.
Veteran storm chaser Josh Morgerman tweeted from Panama City: “The whole city looks like a nuke was dropped on it.”
The storm knocked out power to 850,000 homes and businesses, as power lines were smashed by falling trees, Reuters reported.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long said at the White House that he was especially concerned about buildings constructed before 2001, and not able to withstand such high winds.
“We just hope those structures can hold up,” President Donald Trump responded. “And if not, that they’re not in those structures.”

States of emergency have been declared in all or parts of Florida, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
Schools and state offices in the area are to remain shut this week and Florida has activated 3,500 National Guard troops.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said that the US Coast Guard had carried out 10 missions overnight, saving several lives.
What happens next?
As of early Thursday morning local time, the storm winds had dropped to 60mph, the NHC said.
It warned that communities in north-west Florida and North Carolina faced the threat of life-threatening flooding as rising water moved inland from the coast.
The Carolinas are still recovering from the floods of Hurricane Florence.

IMAGES:
Media captionHurricane Michael as seen from space
A warped McDonald’s sign in Panama City Beach, Florida, 10 October 2018Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption This McDonald’s sign was twisted by the storm in Panama City Beach
Media captionHurricane Michael strikes Florida
Haley Nelson stands in front of what is left of one of her father’s trailer homes after hurricane Michael passed through the area, 10 October 2018Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Trailer homes were ravaged in Panama City, Florida
Panama CityImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Debris in Panama CityImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Debris in Panama City, Florida

For more on this story and video go to: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45818960