Fresh off the warning that we probably only have 12 years to fix the mess we’ve made of the planet, another catastrophic hurricane has made landfall in the United States.

Last month Hurricane Florence caused severe flooding and damage in North Carolina.

Now the record-breaking storm Hurricane Michael has made landfall in Florida, making history as the most powerful hurricane to hit the US mainland since 1969.

According to CNN, “Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph”.

That’s a cool 250km/h, y’all.

Here’s more from the BBC.

The storm left nearly 500,000 people without electricity in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, emergency services say.

Michael was so powerful that it remained a hurricane as it moved further inland.

To give you an idea of the immensity of the storm, here it is viewed from space:

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned of “unimaginable devastation”, saying it would be the worst storm in 100 years.

Michael reportedly killed at least 13 people in Central America: six in Honduras, four in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador.

More than 370,000 people in Florida were ordered to evacuate, but officials believe many ignored the warning.

When the storm hit, the devastation was almost immediate:

Meteorologists told The Telegraph that the “unexpected way Michael had developed, its wind speeds increasing by 50 per cent in one 24-hour period, had been jaw-dropping”.

The governors of North and South Carolina urged residents to brace for more heavy rain and storm-force winds as Michael plows northward up the Atlantic seaboard. The Carolinas are still reeling from severe flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence less than a month ago.

The National Hurricane Centre said Michael would pass through the Carolinas as a tropical storm on Thursday, dumping as much as 8 inches of rain in some areas. Up to a foot of rain was forecast in Florida.

Here’s more footage of the destruction:

Authorities say a Florida Panhandle man was killed by a falling tree as Hurricane Michael tore through the state.

Anglie Hightower, Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, says they received a call around 6 pm, saying a tree had crashed through the roof of the man’s Greensboro home and trapped him.

Emergency crews were heading to the home, but downed power lines and blocked roads were making the trip difficult.

Search and rescue teams have been deployed to the state’s hardest-hit areas to help survivors.

People of Vredehoek, I know you love to complain about the wind, but at least you’re not getting hit by hurricanes.

[sources:bbc&telegraph]