Hurricane Michael now a Category 3 storm, sustained winds top 120 mph

Hurricane Michael continues to strengthen as a Category 3 storm with top wind speeds of 120 mph as it continues its path toward the Florida Panhandle. A Category 3 storm is 111 mph to 129.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Michael was moving north over the southern Gulf of Mexico at about 12 mph.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the hurricane was 220 miles south of Panama City, Florida, and 200 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect along much of Florida’s northern Gulf Coast, stretching from the Panhandle into the area known as the Big Bend.

Michael is forecast to hit the Florida coast Wednesday before moving over Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas Wednesday night and Thursday.

Mandatory evacuations are underway in Panama City Beach and across other low-lying parts of the Florida Panhandle as Hurricane Michael approaches.

The evacuation orders went into effect Tuesday morning for some 120,000 people near the beach and other areas of Bay County. During an emergency meeting of the Bay County Commission on Monday night, Sheriff Tommy Ford said people will “not be dragged out of their homes,” but reminded those who stay that first responders may not be able to reach them once the storm hits.

WINK News reporter Kelsey Kushner was live in Tallahassee where people are getting ready for the storm.

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