Hurricane Michaela

Hurricane Michaela was the thirteenth named storm, the eighth hurricane, and the sixth major hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm's maximum sustained wind speeds were 145 mph (230 km/h), giving it a strength of Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Throughout its journey in the Atlantic, Michaela brushed the Lesser Antilles before the eye made a series of landfalls and close passes through the Turks and Caicos Islands and Bahamas, with the eye passing over Salt Cay in the Turks Islands and Providenciales in the Caicos Islands; Mayaguana, Plana Cays, Rum Cay, and Grand Bahama in the Bahamas; its outer bands also affected Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. Michaela then made its final landfall in the state of Florida in the U.S., and moved on a steady northwestern course inland, where it would ultimately become extratropical and merge with another system.

## **Meteorological history**

A strong tropical wave developed into a tropical depression early on September 2, 2018 (EDT). It was then 475 miles (764 km) west-southwest of Cape Verde, and about 1,947 mi (3,133 km) east of the Windward Islands. That evening it was upgraded and named Tropical Storm Michaela, and in an environment with favorable conditions, the storm was upgraded to a hurricane the following evening.

Michaela gained strength rapidly, reaching Category 3 intensity 24 hours later on the 4th and Category 4 by the 6th. Initially forecast to turn north and potentially threaten Bermuda, conditions changed and Michaela's predicted track shifted westward toward the Lesser Antilles. Michaela's intensity fluctuated as it traveled west over the next several days, dropping back to a Category 3 storm before restrengthening, owing to an eyewall replacement cycle.

Over the course of September 8, Michaela passed just north of the Antilles, with its eyewall passing over Anguilla and later making landfall at Anegada in the British Virgin Islands, with moderate to severe effects felt elsewhere in the area due to the storm's rain bands. On the noon of September 10, Michaela passed through the Turks and Caicos Islands, making landfall in both sets of islands to disastrous effect. In the Turks, Michaela directly struck Salt Cay, with strong winds reported throughout the rest of the Turks. Several hours later, the eyewall clipped Long Cay in the Caicos and paralleled the rest of the islands as it crossed through Caicos Bank, eventually making landfall at Providenciales. That evening, the eyewall clipped Mayaguana and later struck Plana Cays in the Bahamas.

On September 11, Michaela plowed through the center of the Bahamas, passing directly over Rum Cay and very near Conception Island. Reports from Long Island said that parts of the island remained underwater after the storm had passed, with numerous homes and other structures damaged. Another landfall occurred at Cat Island that afternoon. The storm closely paralleled Eleuthera, leading to extreme damage throughout the island. Nassau reportedly had seriously devastating winds but a lot less rain than the other islands.

On September 12, Michaaela weakened slightly as it passed into the vicinity of Abaco Island and directly over Grand Bahama. The storm maintained its Category 4 strength, but winds lessened from their 145 mph peak to 130 mph, making it a low-end storm of this intensity prior to passing over Grand Bahama and also began to lessen in forward speed. Parts of South Florida began to be affected by squalls and the outer rainbands of the hurricane at this time. Gusts as low as 40 mph (60 km/h) to as high as 87 mph (140 km/h) were reported from Jupiter Inlet to Miami.

Michaela moved moderately in pace, from 15 to 20 mi/h (24 to 32 km/h), as it crossed the warm gulf stream between the Bahamas and Florida, allowing it to restrengthen back to a 145 mph hurricane in the hours before its final landfall. It battered the east coast of Florida, especially between Fort Pierce and West Palm Beach during the later hours of September 12. At around 2 AM on September 13, the western edge of Michaela's eyewall began moving onshore. At 4 AM EDT (0900 UTC), the center of the roughly 12 mile (19 km) eye of Michaela made landfall around Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Michaela maintained a steady pace and crossed the Florida Peninsula, weakening to a tropical storm as it tracked inland. It would maintain this strength until it reached central Alabama, where it weakened to a tropical depression and dropped heavy rainfall over the southern states. Tropical Depression Michaela continued northwest under the influence of an approaching frontal system, maintaining its circulation longer than expected. The storm finally became extratropical around midday on September 16, and was later absorbed by the front that same evening.

## **Preparations**

### **Caribbean**

With Michaela expected to traverse much of the Caribbean island chain, hurricane warnings were issued for the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and parts of Hispaniola on September 5.

In Antigua and Barbuda, residents safeguarded their homes and cleaned up their properties in anticipation of strong winds. Emergency crews were put on standby at public shelters and hospitals by September 5 to assist with any evacuations. Expecting a direct hit, more than half of the residents on Barbuda took shelter, and relief supplies were preemptively mobilized.

In Guadeloupe, low-lying and cliff-edge homes were evacuated at the threat of flooding and erosion. Schools and public businesses closed on September 5 and 6. Hospitals stocked up on three days' worth of supplies and checked the functionality of their generators. Of the island's 32 municipalities, 22 activated their emergency plans; 1,500 people were urged to take shelter. The island sustained relatively minor damage and became the base for relief efforts on St. Martin (Collectivity of Saint Martin) and St. Barts (Saint Barthélemy).

Though the core of the hurricane was expected to remain north of the island, a yellow alert was issued for Martinique due to the likelihood of rough seas. The island dispatched relief supplies and military reinforcements to its neighboring islands of Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, which faced a greater risk of a direct impact.

In the Turks and Caicos, evacuation orders were issued for low-lying areas starting September 5. Schools were closed, government buildings were boarded up, and shelters were opened.

In The Bahamas, the government began preparations the week prior to the hurricane's arrival, including securing national sports facilities to use as shelters. Controlled cutting of the power supply to southern and central Bahamian islands was conducted in advance of the storm.

### **Mainland United States**

Preparations for the storm began in Florida on September 9. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, and evacuations of 500,000 people were initially ordered. Eventually 41 counties received evacuation orders, covering 2.8 million residents, one of the largest evacuations in Florida's history.

On September 10, Port Canaveral was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard, the first closure since 2016. Cape Canaveral, home to both civilian and military spaceflight facilities, no rockets or spacecraft were in vulnerable positions at the time of Michaela's approach. The Kennedy Space Center soon began preparations of the facilities. Older buildings at the KSC were designed to withstand winds of 105–125 mph (169–201 km/h); buildings constructed after 1992, when Category 5 Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami area, are built to withstand 130 mph (210 km/h) winds. At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing began disconnecting electric power to non-essential facilities.

For the fifth time in its history, the Walt Disney World Resort closed. Its theme parks were closed at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 12, and remained closed through September 14. This was the first time since 2016 that the parks have closed, once again due to a hurricane, much like every other instance of the park's previous closures. Other Orlando-area theme parks, including Universal Orlando resort and SeaWorld Orlando, also closed.

On September 12, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a federal state of emergency for Florida, which was later extended to include Georgia. That same day, Georgia governor Nathan Deal ordered a mandatory evacuation for all areas of the state east of Interstate 95, and the Georgia Department of Public Safety reversed the eastbound lanes on a portion of Interstate 16 effective until the following day.

## **Impact**

Hurricane Michaela's path was such that its impact was both far-reaching and devastating, with confirmed landfalls in Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, The Bahamas, and the United States.

### **Hispaniola**

While spared a direct hit by Michaela, the island of Hispaniola was still recovering from the damage wrought by Hurricane Hailey just less than a month earlier.