Factbox: Storm Michael cuts power to over 594,000 in Florida, Georgia, Alabama

Emergency crews work to clear a street of debris during Hurricane Michael in Panama City Beach, Florida, U.S. October 10, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman

(Reuters) - More than 594,000 homes and businesses in Florida, Georgia and Alabama were without power on Thursday as storm Michael headed northeast to Georgia and the Carolinas after battering the Florida Panhandle, according to local power companies.

Michael, the fiercest hurricane to hit Florida in 80 years when it came ashore, has since weakened into a tropical storm over Georgia. It made landfall on Wednesday afternoon near Mexico Beach, about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Panama City in Florida's Panhandle region.

The storm came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

Duke Energy Corp estimated Michael could cause between 100,000 and 200,000 of its customers to lose power in Florida. The company said some outages could last several days to more than a week.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya and Sumita Layek in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)