Waves crash against a road in Havana, Cuba on Tuesday. In only three days, Michael intensified from a tropical storm to a category 4 hurricane. (See more photos.)
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Photos show Hurricane Michael's historic strength
As the storm moves away from Florida, residents are finding uprooted trees, roofless homes, and neighborhoods in ruin.
Over its lifecycle, a hurricane can expend more energy than an atomic bomb, and what they leave in their wake can look like the aftermath of war.
A deadly storm surge also accompanied the hurricane. In some parts of the coast, water rose as high as seven feet.
But it's the winds that distinguished Michael from other hurricanes that have recently struck the U.S. At its peak, Michael had sustained winds of 155 miles per hour. Residents riding out the storm posted videos online showing large trees being uprooted from the ground and roofs being torn off homes.
Photos taken in Panama City, near where the eye of the storm passed, show proof of what historic storms are capable of leaving
