Hurricane Michael, the most powerful hurricane ever to hit Florida has killed two people so far.

The first victim was killed by a falling tree, according to officials. 

And a child was also reported to be killed by the destruction in Seminole County, Georgia. The child is believed to have died after something fell on a home he was visiting, according to the county's emergency management director, Travis Brooks. But details remain unclear because authorities have not yet been able to reach the home.

Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle with terrifying winds reaching a speed of 259 kilometers per hour on Wednesday, splintering homes and submerging neighborhoods before continuing its destructive charge inland across the Southeast.

It was the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental US in nearly 50 years.

Supercharged by abnormally warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Category 4 storm crashed ashore in the early afternoon near Mexico Beach, a 320-kilometer stretch of white-sand beach resorts, fishing towns and military bases. 

After it ravaged the Panhandle, Michael barreled into south Georgia as a Category 3 hurricane - the most powerful ever recorded in the state. It later weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, and there were reports it spawned possible tornadoes in central Georgia.

In north Florida, Michael battered the shoreline with sideways rain, powerful gusts and crashing waves, swamping streets and docks, flattening trees, shredding awnings and peeling away shingles. 

It set off transformer explosions and knocked out power to more than 388,000 homes and businesses.

A Panhandle man was killed by a tree that toppled on a home, said Anglie Hightower, spokesperson for Gadsden county sheriff's office, adding that  emergency crews trying to reach the home were hampered by downed trees and debris blocking roadways. The man wasn't immediately identified.

Damage in Panama City was extensive, with broken and uprooted trees and power lines down nearly everywhere. Roofs were peeled off and homes split open by fallen trees. Twisted street signs lay on the ground. 

Residents emerged in the early evening to assess damage when rains stopped, though skies were still overcast and windy.

Vance Beu, 29, was staying with his mother at her apartment, a small complex of single-story wood frame apartment buildings. A pine tree punched a hole in their roof and he said the roar of the storm sounded like a jet engine as the winds accelerated. 

"It was terrifying, honestly. There was a lot of noise. We thought the windows were going to break at any time," Beu said.

In Apalachicola, Sally Crown said that multiple trees were down in her yard, "It's absolutely horrendous. Catastrophic." 

Florida governor Rick Scott announced soon after the powerful eye had swept inland that "aggressive" search and rescue efforts would get underway as conditions allowed. He urged people to stay off debris-littered roads.

More than 375,000 people up and down the Gulf Coast were urged to evacuate as Michael closed in. But the fast-moving, fast-strengthening storm didn't give people much time to prepare, and emergency authorities lamented that many ignored the warnings and seemed to think they could ride it out.

(Cover photo: Residents huddled indoors as strong wind sent debris flying in Panama City, Florida, October 10, 2018. /VCG Photo)