Michael has sped off toward the Atlantic Ocean, but there will be nothing quick about Florida’s recovery from the hurricane, where rows upon rows of homes have been smashed to pieces. The storm also has brought flash flooding to hurricane-weary parts of the Carolinas and Virginia.

Here are some of the statistics the storm left behind:

• Michael was the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida’s Panhandle since record-keeping began in 1851.

• Its wind topped out at 155 mph, strong enough to destroy homes and cause weeks-long power outages.

• Atmospheric pressure bottomed out at 919 millibars in the eye, the third most intense hurricane landfall in the U.S. in recorded history.

• The storm surge rose between 9 and 14 feet from Mexico Beach east through Apalachee Bay.

• Roughly 375,000 people in Florida were ordered to evacuate; many refused, including 285 people in Mexico Beach where Michael made landfall.

• Rescue personnel helped 47 helped out of hard-hit areas along Florida’s coastline, and 20 people in flooded neighborhoods in North Carolina.

• But nearly 6,700 people took refuge in 54 shelters in Florida.

• Roughly 1 million customers in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina lost power.

• Officials are bringing in 2 million ready-to-eat meals, 1 million gallons of water and 40,000 10-pound bags of ice ready for distribution in Florida.

• Boston-based Karen Clark & Company, an insurance company that produces models for catastrophes, estimates Michael caused about $8 billion in insured losses. It includes the privately insured wind and storm surge damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles. The figure does not include losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Copy the Story Link