大象传媒

Hurricane Michael has become the most powerful ever to hit north-west Florida. Winds reaching 125mph (200km/h) snapped trees like twigs and homes were submerged as beach side times were flooded.

Unusually, Michael was so powerful that it remained a hurricane even as it moved further inland towards Georgia and North Carolina.

Ben Kaplan - a reporter for WCTV news out of Tallahassee, Florida (part of the CBS network) - experienced the hurricane first hand.

(Photo: Florida's Panama City was one of the worst-hit areas. Credit: Getty Images)