Hurricane Michael weakened to tropical storm Thursday but remained a menace as it rolled across the Southeast, leaving two dead after tearing a path of devastation through the Florida Panhandle and parts of Georgia.
The storm will go down in history as the third strongest to hit the U.S. mainland in recorded history after making landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 colossus with sustained winds of 155 mph - just 2 mph short of iconic Category 5 status.
Where is the storm now?
As of 8 a.m. ET, the storm was centered 40 miles west of Columbia, South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. The storm was rolling northeast at 21 mph. A turn toward the east-northeast and an even faster forward speed are expected on Friday.