Hurricane (Typhoon) — Pulaski, Georgia

2018-10-10 to 2018-10-11 · Pulaski, Georgia

Event narrative

Hundreds of trees reported down across the county. Between 80-100 homes/properties sustained some damage, mainly due to trees down. Several homes were completely destroyed. Crops across the county took the biggest hit with pecan orchards, peanuts and cotton sustaining significant damage due to the rain, wind and trees/limbs down.

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 793325. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.