Gulf County is a county located in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,192. Its county seat is Port St. Joe.
Gulf County Courthouse
Entering the Eastern Time Zone
Hurricane Michael was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States in terms of pressure, behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Michael was the first Category 5 hurricane on record to impact the Florida Panhandle, the fourth-strongest landfalling hurricane in the contiguous United States, in terms of wind speed, and the most intense hurricane on record to strike the United States in the month of October.
Michael at peak intensity shortly before landfall on the Florida Panhandle on October 10
Michael as a hurricane-force extratropical cyclone on October 13
Members of the Florida National Guard convening near Starke, Florida, on October 9
Most homes on the beachfront in Mexico Beach, Florida, were obliterated by Michael's catastrophic storm surge, with some even being swept off their foundations.