Hurricane (Typhoon) — Sumter, Georgia

2018-10-10 · Sumter, Georgia

Event narrative

More than 1000 reports of damage across the county. Initial reports from EMA showed at least 4 buildings completely destroyed with 16 sustaining major damage. An additional 58 had minor damage. Across the northern half of the county, measured wind gusts of 50-60 MPH occurred. These gusts were likely higher across the south/southeast part of the county but there were no official weather stations in this area.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Michael made landfall along the Florida panhandle at Mexico beach (just southeast of Panama City) on the afternoon of October 10, 2018 as a high-end Category 4 hurricane (max winds of 155 MPH). Michael then moved rapidly inland, causing widespread wind damage along its path as it swept northeast across south and central Georgia. Hurricane Michael was the first major hurricane, category 3 or higher, to directly impact Georgia since the 1890s. In southwest Georgia, wind gusts as high as 115 mph were recorded. Within the NWS Atlanta/Peachtree City county warning area, wind gusts of 40-60 MPH, with some gusts over 70 mph, across portions of central Georgia on the evening of October 10th into the morning of October 11th led to widespread tree damage and power outages with damage to numerous structures. Severe crop damage was also reported, especially to cotton and pecan crops, as well as devastating impacts to commercial timberland. In addition, a few brief tornadoes in the outer bands of Michael caused isolated damage in portions of the north and central Georgia while heavy rainfall led to localized flooding. Michael quickly exited the state as a tropical storm late on the morning of October 11th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 793307. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.