Flooding Major Concern as Tropical Storm Michael Moves Past Florida and Over Storm-Weary Carolinas
*By Carlo Versano*
Tropical Storm Michael moved rapidly northeast over Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday after coming ashore as an unprecedented Category 4 on the Florida Panhandle a day earlier and doing severe damage to coastal cities like Panama Beach.
But the biggest fears of potentially catastrophic storm surge did not appear to have been realized. Sarah Rosario, a reporter for the local CBS affiliate in St. Petersburg, Fla., told Cheddar from Crystal River that the waters there had receded, and "things are looking much better."
Up north on the panhandle, though, the damage was more severe. At least two people are dead and hundreds of thousands remain without power after Michael made a direct hit on the region. "This is the biggest storm that area has seen ever," Rosario noted. "It came out of nowhere."
The focus now turns to flooding in the southeast, where the ground remains saturated with rainwater from last month's Hurricane Florence. Michael is expected to quickly move north toward Virginia before exiting back into the Atlantic as a post-tropical system.
Michael is the [fourth](https://twitter.com/chrisdolcewx/status/1050348660339412992) Category 4 storm to hit the U.S. in 14 months.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/hurricane-michael-hits-florida).
The pain and grief from this week’s shooting in a 4th grade classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is still with us. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier ends the week by pausing to remember some of the faces of the 19 children killed and their teachers.
We thought our Wake Up with Cheddar team needed to update those dance moves, so TikTok star Jennifer Mika came on the show to teach them some moves and educate us about dance credit on social media. Jennifer teaches Baker Machado and Hana Ostapchuk @country_e_boy's Money Jiggle!
Cheddar New’s reporter Megan Pratz reports from the scene in Uvalde, Texas, with additional details that indicate the shooter was inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour before law enforcement was able to confront and kill him.
U.S. stocks ended near session highs to close Thursday's session after retailers released positive earnings results. Investors also continued to weigh the federal reserve's recent indication that the central will raise rates in an effort to curb inflation. Adam Johnson, Portfolio Manager for Adviser Investments, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
After the horrific mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, activists are once again urging Congress to take action. Trevon Bosley, a gun violence prevention activist, joined Cheddar News to talk about how to push legislators on the issue of new gun restrictions. “Even 10 years later the same sense of hopelessness from before," Bosley said, referring to the lack of change since the Sandy Hook massacre.
Cheddar recs "Stranger Things," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Like a Rolling Stone," "That Damn Michael Che," "Bosch: Legacy," "The Night Of," and "Empire Records."
Asian American representation has evolved immensely throughout social media and in the media in general. Popular TikTok creator Jennifer Mika joined Cheddar News to discuss more on the matter and how we can improve mental health and women's safety online.
