Hurricane Michael: Merchant Vessel Captures Big Waves

A merchant marine ship captured Hurricane Michael-spawned waves in St. Andrews Bay on Oct. 10.

Nick Darling captured the footage, showing high waves rocking his vessel.

Michael is moving toward the north-northeast near 14 mph, and a turn toward the northeast is expected this afternoon or tonight, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

“A motion toward the northeast at a faster forward speed is forecast on Thursday through Friday night. On the forecast track, the core of Michael will move inland across the Florida Panhandle this afternoon, and across southeastern Alabama and southwestern Georgia tonight. Michael will move northeastward across the southeastern United States through Thursday night, and then move off the Mid-Atlantic coast away from the United States on Friday,” the agency said.

Waves from Hurricane Michael in St. Andrews Bay. CNN

NOAA and Air Force aircraft obtained data, showing that the storm has 155 mph winds with higher gusts. A Category 5 hurricane has 157 mph winds.

“Michael should weaken as it crosses the southeastern United States. Michael is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, and strengthening is forecast as the system moves over the western Atlantic,” said the agency.

“It feels like you don’t know when the next tree is going to fall on top of you because it’s blowing so ferociously,” said Port St. Joe Mayor Bo Patterson in a Reuters interview. “You just don’t know when the next one is going down. It’s very, very scary. We have trees being uprooted, heavy, heavy rain.”

The storm could bring sea water levels as high as 14 feet above normal in some places, the NHC said.