Governor says ‘pray for everybody’ as Irma pummels Florida from coast to coast
FORT MYERS, FLA.— Hurricane Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummelling with winds up to 210 km/h Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.
The nearly 650-kilometre-wide storm blew ashore in Florida Keys on Sunday morning, then began a slow march up the state’s west coast, its punishing winds extending clear across to Miami and West Palm Beach on the Atlantic side.
Irma was expected to hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday, though in a much-weakened state.
Although it arrived in Florida a Category 4 hurricane, by nightfall it was down to a Category 2 with winds of 175 km/h.
Streets emptied across the bottom half of the Florida peninsula, and some 127,000 people huddled in shelters.
“Pray, pray for everybody in Florida,” Gov. Rick Scott said on Fox News Sunday.
There were no immediate confirmed reports of any deaths in Florida, on top of 24 people killed during the storm’s destructive trek across the Caribbean since it first hit the island of Barbuda last Wednesday.
Many streets were underwater in downtown Miami and other cities.
In the low-lying Keys, where a storm surge of over three metres was recorded, appliances and furniture were seen floating away, and Monroe County spokesperson Cammy Clark said the ocean waters were filled with navigation hazards, including sunken boats and loose vessels. A Miami woman who went into labour was guided through delivery by phone when authorities couldn’t reach her in high winds and street flooding. Firefighters later took her to the hospital.
An apparent tornado spun off by Irma destroyed six mobile homes in Palm Bay, midway up the Atlantic Coast. Flooding was reported along Interstate 4, which cuts across Florida’s midsection.
At least 3.3 million homes and businesses across the state lost power, and utility officials said it will take weeks to restore electricity to everyone.
While the projected track showed Irma raking the state’s Gulf Coast, forecasters warned that the entire state — including the Miami metropolitan area of 6 million people — was in extreme peril from the monstrously wide storm.
Nearly 7 million people in the southeast were warned to get out of harm’s way, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.
About 30,000 people heeded orders to evacuate the Keys as the storm closed in, but an untold number refused to leave, in part because to many storm-hardened residents, staying behind in the face of danger is a point of pride.
In downtown Miami, one of two dozen construction cranes looming over the skyline collapsed atop a highrise in Irma’s winds. There was no immediate word on any damage or injuries. City officials said it would have taken about two weeks to have moved the cranes out of harm’s way.
Curfews were imposed in Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and much of the rest of South Florida, and some arrests of violators were reported. Miami Beach barred outsiders from the island.
Fort Lauderdale police arrested nine people they said were caught on TV cameras looting sneakers and other items from a sporting goods store and a pawn shop.
U.S. President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for Florida, opening the way for federal aid. “Once this system passes through, it’s going to be a race to save lives and sustain lives,” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Brock Long said on Fox News Sunday.
With FEMA still dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Harvey in Houston, Irma could test the agency’s ability to handle two disasters at the same time.
Even before the extent of its potential devastation was clear, the storm made a huge swath of the peninsula’s bottom half unrecognizable.
Irma was at one time the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic, with a peak wind speed of 300 km/h last week.
It left more than 20 people dead across the Caribbean, and as it moved north over the Gulf of Mexico’s bathtub-warm water of nearly 32 C, regained strength.
Its hurricane-force winds extended 130 kilometres from its centre. Meteorologist Ryan Maue of WeatherBell Analytics said the entire Florida peninsula will be raked by Irma’s right front quadrant — the part of a hurricane that usually brings the strongest winds, storm surge, rain and tornadoes.
Gretchen Blee, who moved with her husband to Naples from Long Island, N.Y., after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 heavily damaged their beach home, took cover in a hotel room as Irma raged. “I said let’s go and live the good life in paradise,” she said. “And here we are.”
People in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area started bracing for the onslaught. The Tampa Bay area, with a population of about 3 million, has not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921.
“I’ve been here with other storms, other hurricanes. But this one scares me,” Sally Carlson said she snapped photos of the waves crashing against boats. “Let’s just say a prayer we hope we make it through.”
The governor activated all 7,000 members of the Florida National Guard, and 30,000 guardsmen from elsewhere were on standby.
Forecasters warned that after charting up Florida’s west coast, a weakened Irma could push into Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and beyond. A tropical storm warning was issued for the first time ever in Atlanta, Ga., some 325 kilometres from the sea. Given its mammoth size and strength and its projected course, Irma could prove one of the most devastating hurricanes ever to hit Florida and inflict damage on a scale not seen here in 25 years.
Hurricane Andrew smashed into suburban Miami in 1992 with winds topping 265 km/h, damaging or blowing apart over 125,000 homes. The damage in Florida totalled $26 billion and at least 40 people died.