Weakened Irma still poses threat

Storm batters Florida as threat of storm surge and strong winds loom

MiaMi: Hurricane Irma, which has toppled cranes, swallowed streets and left millions without power, weakened to a Category One storm but remained dangerous as it continued its furious climb up Florida’s southwest coast.

Warnings of hazardous storm surges remained in effect through vast swaths of peninsular Florida, where more than six million people had been ordered to flee Irma’s path – one of the biggest evacuations in US history.

“As little as six inches (15cm) of moving water can knock you down,” tweeted the state’s governor Rick Scott following the downgrade. “Stay inside. Stay safe,” he added. Maximum sustained winds had decreased to 137kph as of 2am local time, with Irma projected to become a tropical storm as it moved into northern Florida or southern Georgia later today.

After wreaking a trail of death and destruction through the Caribbean, Irma killed three people when it struck the southern Florida Keys island chain as a more powerful Category Four on Sunday.

More than four million customers were without power throughout the state, according to Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.

Florida Power and Light said it had “safely shut down” one of two nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point power plant.

Handfuls of holdout residents, having defied calls to evacuate, hunkered down as Irma tore over the Keys, ripping boats from their moorings, flattening palm trees and downing power lines across the island chain popular for fishing and scuba diving.

Hours later, one of the mightiest hurricanes ever to slam the state made a second landfall on Marco Island near the beach resort of Naples.

“I am concerned about people that don’t believe in the storm surge,” said Virginia Defreeuw, 76, who fled her mobile home in Naples to a shelter.

“You need to be afraid of the storm surge! People are not listening.”

As Irma appeared to set its sights on the Tampa area – home to three million residents, about half of whom live less than 3m above sea level – some people were taken by surprise by Irma’s northwest shift.

Facing Irma’s wrath, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the city did everything it could to get people out of the coastal areas.

While southwest Florida bore the deadly brunt of Irma’s wrath on Sunday, the coastlines of Miami and the neighbouring island of Miami Beach were heavily inundated by storm surges as hurricane winds sent two giant construction cranes crashing down.

The sea swallowed the coastal walkway of glitzy Brickell Avenue in central Miami, flooding streets and leaving cars halfsubmerged.

“The wooden pier is basically gone,” said Steven Schlacknam, a 51yearold visual artist watching from a 37th floor apartment.

President Donald Trump, who vowed to travel to Florida “very soon,” approved the state’s request for emergency federal aid to help with temporary housing, home repairs, emergency work and hazard mitigation.

“Right now, we’re worried about lives, not cost,” Trump said.

At least 30 deaths are already attributable to the storm.

Before reaching the United States, Irma smashed through a string of Caribbean islands from tiny Barbuda on Wednesday, to the tropical paradises of Saint Barthelemy and St Martin, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos.

Terrified Cubans who rode out Irma in coastal towns – after it made landfall as a maximumstrength Category Five storm – reported “deafening” winds, uprooted trees and power lines, and rooftops blown off.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Cuba but it caused significant damage, and enormous waves lashed the Malecon, Havana’s emblematic seafront, with seawaters penetrating deep into the capital. — AFP