Washington - A storm threatening the US coast was upgraded to
an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane, the US National
Hurricane Center (NHC) announced early Wednesday.
"This is a life-threatening event for portions of the north-eastern
Gulf Coast," the NHC wrote on Twitter.
Hurricane Michael was expected to make landfall over the Florida
panhandle on Wednesday, while bringing winds and heavy rain across
portions of southern Georgia and south-east Alabama, it said.
"Its outer rainbands are beginning to reach the coast," it added.
Heavy rainfall could also produce "life-threatening" flash flooding
in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, the
weather service said.
Florida Governor Rick Scott urged people to evacuate coastal areas as
quickly as possible, writing on social media late Tuesday: "The
decisions you & your family make over the coming hours could be the
difference between life & death."
Scott had already called a state of emergency for 26 counties along
Florida's Gulf coast.