Toxic Red Tide Could Sicken People as Hurricane Michael Pushes It Ashore
- Algae bloom off Florida could be pushed inland by Michael
- Experts divided on whether bloom could survive when inland
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Hurricane Michael could push this season’s toxic red tide inland, exposing more people to the dangerous health effects of a record algae bloom that has bedeviled much of Florida’s coast.
The hurricane is expected to generate a storm surge as great as 14 feet along parts of the Florida Panhandle, where it made landfall early Wednesday afternoon. That part of the coast that has seen some of the worst concentrations this year of red tide, a variety of algae that kills fish and releases toxins that cause respiratory symptoms in humans similar to tear gas.