WATCH LIVE: Hurricane Michael hits land as Category 4

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3:20 p.m.

Moist air, warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, and ideal wind patterns turbocharged Hurricane Michael in the hours before it smacked Florida’s Panhandle.

Hurricane Michael’s wind speed increased by 50 mph in 24 hours, to 140 mph Wednesday.

University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said the storm is making the “worst fears” of meteorologists come true: rapid intensification just before landfall on an area that has never experienced a storm this size before.

McNoldy said a key factor was that the water was 4 to 5 degrees warmer than normal, giving the hurricane extra fuel. Also, high atmosphere winds that can disrupt a hurricane were quiet, allowing Michael to gather momentum.

Recent studies show that Atlantic storms have been strengthening faster over the past 30 years.

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2:20 p.m.

Local news reporters were working in the dark as Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle.

The News Herald in Panama City tweeted that conditions were “getting very nasty here” as the hurricane’s eye closed in. The newsroom was running on generator power without internet access.

The newspaper tweeted that reporters were feeling “crashing thunder shaking building.”

At the Panama City news station WJHG/WECP, reporter Tyler Allender tweeted that his colleagues were taking shelter in a hallway in the middle of the building because “this wind is SERIOUS.”

Allender said they were sitting in the dark because their building had lost power.

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1:20 p.m.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said Hurricane Michael is “unlike any storm that we have had in anybody’s memory.”

He says this one will inflict serious damage across central and southern Georgia, and he’s calling on people to protect themselves, their families, and anyone who needs assistance.

More than 1,200 evacuees are staying in Georgia state parks, which are waiving entrance fees for those seeking shelter.

The storm also is expected to ravage the state’s peanut, pecan and cotton crops.

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12:20 p.m.

Hurricane Michael is still getting stronger as it closes in on Florida’s Gulf Coast, with top winds growing to nearly 150 mph (240 kph).

The National Hurricane Center says data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicates that the minimum pressure inside the eye of the hurricane is still dropping, down to 923 millibars.

Hurricane Michael’s center is now less than 50 miles off the coast, with hurricane-force gusts reaching the shore.

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10:20 a.m.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered 1,500 National Guard troops on standby, ready for deployment as needed as Hurricane Michael blows in. Hurricanes weaken after landfall, but Michael is a catastrophic Category 4 storm and is expected to remain a hurricane as it ploughs over Georgia.

Transportation officials are already anticipating gale-force winds by closing the main bridge over the Savannah River between Savannah and South Carolina. The Georgia Department of Transportation said the Talmadge Memorial Bridge on U.S. 17 will close at 9 p.m. Wednesday, because it will be too difficult for motorists to control their vehicles in such conditions.

South Alabama is another inland area that won’t be spared. Alabama’s Geneva County has announced a curfew beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday, and the local emergency management agency has urged people to voluntarily evacuate from mobile homes and other places that could be unstable in the storm’s high winds.

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PANAMA CITY, Florida (AP) – Florida Gov. Rick Scott says the impact of Hurricane Michael will be “horrible,” the worst storm to hit the Panhandle in a century.

Scott said Wednesday he’s “scared to death” that people in places such as St. George Island along the state’s coast had ignored evacuation orders.

He said he hopes that no one kept children with them as they chose to ride it out, but the time to evacuate from coastal areas has “come and gone.”

The governor said state authorities are now focusing on the recovery effort once the fast-moving storm blows through. He has activated up 3,500 members of the Florida National Guard and says thousands of utility workers are on stand-by.