Two deaths are blamed on the storm so far.
Hurricane Michael is responsible for at least seven deaths so far, including that of an 11-year-old girl who was killed when a windborne carport fell on her home in Georgia.
The hurricane made landfall in the Florida Panhandle Wednesday afternoon, blowing ashore with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, just shy of becoming a Category 5 storm. The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued its first-ever extreme wind warning just as the storm was about to make landfall.
The 11-year-old girl died after the strong winds swept up a metal carport and blew it into her home, hitting her on the head. Emergency responders weren't able to get there in time to save her, thanks to the debris clogging the roads.
In addition to the 11-year-old, five other victims were killed in Florida and one in North Carolina, according to USA Today.
Michael left a trail of destruction in its wake as it moved northeast out of Florida and into Georgia and the Carolinas, which already took a beating last month when Hurricane Florence roared into the area.
By Thursday morning, the system had been downgraded to a tropical storm but remained dangerous, according to the National Hurricane Center. It's expected to move out over the Atlantic Ocean later Thursday or early Friday.
Michael is the most powerful storm to hit Florida in more than a century.
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