After smashing into the Florida panhandle as one of the strongest storms to ever hit the U.S., Hurricane Michael is now moving along the projected track eastward across the Southeastern U.S.

The movement builds confidence that Pike County will see no impact more significant than sustained winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, gusts of up to 50 miles per hour and rainfall of 2 to 4 inches, but interim EMA director Herb Reeves said the county isn’t out of the woods yet.

“It’s too early to let your guard down,” Reeves said. “This is not over by any means. we will continue seeing tropical storm weather into the late afternoon and evening.”

Many evacuees huddled around televisions in hotel lobbies or stood off to the side in discussions with other Floridians that had fled from the storm.

The City of Troy opened up the Troy Recreation Center as a shelter at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday to accommodate other evacuees that had not been able to find a hotel room as the storm began to affect the local area.

Troy University has also opened up the Trojan Center for students that feel unsafe in their on-campus or off-campus residences and Trojan Arena is serving as a medical needs shelter for people that need medical care such as oxygen or diabetic care.