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Report
Many unaware of major tropical threat brewing in the Gulf of Mexico
AccuWeather
Follow
9/23/2024
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell was on the Gulf coast on Sept. 23, asking beachgoers about their preparations for a storm AccuWeather has been warning people about for days but that many don't realize is coming.
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00:00
right now. Let's go out to Bill Waddell. Bill arrived in Panama City Beach,
00:05
Florida yesterday afternoon, right around the time that AccuWeather again
00:09
was the first to issue that track and intensity forecast for the upcoming
00:14
storm. All right, Bill, you're there alive this morning. And what are what
00:18
are people talking about? What are people saying when it comes to this
00:20
hurricane threat?
00:23
Yeah. Ariella Bernie. The things that people are saying are extremely
00:27
concerning to meteorologists. We've been hearing what storm, what hurricane
00:31
most of the people we've been talking with knew that there was some trouble
00:35
brewing in the tropics, but they did not realize how serious and imminent
00:39
of a storm threat this is. That's extremely concerning when you're
00:42
hearing from more and more people who say they don't realize that there's a
00:45
hurricane expected to impact this area when we're dealing with such warm
00:49
waters out in the Gulf of Mexico and the concerns of rapid development,
00:53
rapid intensification and hurricane impacts in this area in less than 72
00:59
hours. That is why AccuWeather expert meteorologists were the first to issue
01:03
that track and intensity forecast, trying to warn people about the
01:07
imminent threat, helping them get prepared for this storm. And you could
01:11
see it's a beautiful morning out here at the beach. No signs that there's
01:14
trouble out in the tropics going to be bringing some serious impacts here in
01:17
just a few days. And looking by the video, we haven't seen any sense of
01:21
urgency here in the Panama City Beach area. No digital message boards are up
01:25
yet with warnings. It was a beautiful evening at the beach, but we do expect
01:29
this to change. We'll likely be hearing from more officials later today and
01:32
tomorrow morning, urging people to prepare. A major hurricane threat for
01:36
the panhandle of Florida brings back many tough memories of Hurricane
01:40
Michael for a lot of locals. The six year anniversary is just a few weeks
01:45
away. Michael was one of only four storms to make landfall in the U. S. As
01:49
a devastating category five hurricane. Sharon Gillespie says parts of Panama
01:54
City Beach and Mexico Beach are still recovering and other areas will never
01:59
look the same.
02:01
Some people moved away, never came back. Some of us stayed and actually saw
02:08
community come together. You know, the support that came among each other, the
02:12
towns around and even from far away. We had some volunteers come down trying to
02:19
help make a difference in our community. So really nice.
02:26
Yeah, Sharon says she is taking this forecast in stride and she is going to
02:29
be getting prepared today. But she knows that a forecast like this can be
02:33
incredibly nerve wracking for a lot of Hurricane Michael survivors. And again,
02:37
we haven't seen much as far as any storm preparedness today, but that is
02:41
expected to change over the next 24 hours. Guys will likely be hearing more
02:45
from emergency officials will be seeing those digital warnings going up on
02:49
message boards. But at least at this point, it's a quiet, beautiful morning
02:53
here at the beach. But we are starting to hear more people talking about the
02:56
storm threat and needing to take this one very seriously. Yeah, Bill, Adele,
03:00
very sobering message, I'm afraid. But that's the problem with homegrown
03:04
development. That's the concern. As you mentioned, you don't have 7 to 10 days.
03:08
There's no official word that this is even a storm yet, and it probably won't
03:13
be officially a storm until later today.
03:17
I hope everybody was watching Accuweather.com and the Accuweather
03:21
Network. If they were, they'd be prepared for this storm. Bill, Adele, you'll have
03:24
reports throughout the day. Thanks.
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