Hurricane Michael slammed into Mexico Beach, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 155 mph - only 2 mph shy of a Category 5. With record-breaking wind speeds, Michael is both the strongest storm to make landfall in the continental US (since Hurricane Andrew in 1992), and is the strongest storm to ever hit the Florida Panhandle. Tracking across the Southeastern United States, winds plunged 1.4 million residents into complete darkness in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Communities across the region are devastated, and multiple towns in the Panhandle are destroyed beyond recognition. The overall death toll stands at 45 (35 in Florida alone).