NORAD deputy commander Lt.-Gen. Chris Coates says most of the Canadians were evacuated before Hurricane Michael slammed into Tyndall Air Force Base on Oct. 10, and no injuries were reported.

More than a thousand people were still missing on Wednesday a week after HurricaneMichael flattened communities across the Florida Panhandle, killing at least 27.

The third-most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland headed northeast to soak Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday, leaving the Florida Panhandle to assess the devastation left by Hurricane Michael.

Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane — the most powerful hurricane that has hit Florida in 50 years.

Hurricane Michael grew into a potentially deadly Category 4 storm on Wednesday before it was due to smash into Florida's Gulf shore with towering waves and roof-shredding winds as 500,000 people were under evacuation orders and advisories.

"This is a storm that is going to be life-threatening in several ways," said Bo Patterson, the mayor of Port St. Joe, Fla.

Hurricane Michael was expected to strengthen on Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico, taking aim at the Florida panhandle, where residents were implored to get out of harm's way ahead of life-threatening waves, winds and rains.