Update: October 11, 2018 - Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but is still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle.
Several ports in the Panhandle region remain closed, with ports and airports along the North and Southeast coasts bracing for potential impact.
Rest assured, BDP International is closely monitoring Michael's path and its potential impact to our customers' supply chains. We will continue to keep you apprised with updates and alerts as the situation develops.
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October 10, 2018 - A terrifyingly powerful Category 4 Hurricane Michael was poised to become the strongest hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle in recorded history Wednesday.
A very dangerous Category 4 storm on five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Michael had strengthened as it moved north over the Gulf of Mexico and by 8 a.m. ET (1200 GMT) was carrying top winds of 145 miles per hour (230 km per hour), the National Hurricane Center said.
It was set to make landfall later on Wednesday on Florida's Panhandle and could drive sea water levels as high as 14 feet (4.3 meters) above normal, the center said. The storm could strengthen further before coming ashore, it said.
Some of the storm's most significant early impact was to offshore energy production. U.S. producers in the Gulf cut oil production by about 40 percent and natural gas output by 28 percent on Tuesday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
Six airports and several ports in the Panhandle have closed in anticipation of the storm's impact.
Sources: Reuters, CNN, BDP International
