Irma floods Florida, leaves millions without power
The hurricane cut power to millions of people and ripped roofs off homes as it hit a wide swath of Florida over the past day
TAMPA/MIAMI: Downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Irma flooded several northern Florida cities with heavy rain and a high surge of seawater on Monday, as residents of the part of the state first walloped by the storm tried to return to their homes.
Irma, once ranked as one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic, cut power to millions of people and ripped roofs off homes as it hit a wide swath of Florida over the past day.
With sustained winds of up to 65 miles per hour (105 kph), Irma was located about 70 miles (113 km) east of the Florida state capital Tallahassee and headed toward the Georgia border, the National Hurricane Center said at 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT).
About two dozen vehicles filled with people who had fled the Florida Keys, where Irma roared ashore on Sunday with sustained winds of up to 130 mph (209 kph), lined up near the entrance to the highway that connects the archipelago to the mainland with a series of bridges and causeways.
They expressed anger at police who asked them to drive to a racetrack a few miles away to register before returning to their homes.
“This is how people are going to die - nobody’s going to want to leave the Keys,” shouted Shelby Bentley. “I’ve been in the Keys for 40 years ... It’s the first time I’ve evacuated from a hurricane. It’ll be my last time.”
Officials in Monroe County, where the Keys are located, said that most of the islands still lacked fuel, electricity, running water and cell service on Monday.
“For many people, supplies are running low and anxiety is running high,” the county said in a statement posted online. Inspection teams were working to clear bridges and ensure their safety. “Once the roads are cleared, and the bridges are inspected for use, aid and relief can start to move.”
Irma hit Florida after powering through the Caribbean as a rare Category 5 hurricane, the top rung of the Saffir-Simpson scale. It killed 38 people, including 10 in Cuba, which was battered over the weekend by ferocious winds and 36-foot (11-metre) waves.
Northeastern Florida cities including Jacksonville were flooding on Monday, with city sheriffs pulling residents from waist-deep water.
“Stay inside. Go up. Not out,” Jacksonville’s website warned residents. “There is flooding throughout the city and more rain is expected.” After what she called a terrifying night bunkered in her house in St. Petersburg, on Flori- da’s Gulf Coast, with her children and extended family, Julie Hally emerged with relief on Monday. The winds had toppled some large tree branches and part of a fence, but her house was undamaged.
“My heart just pounded out of my chest the whole time,” said Hally, 37. “You hear stuff hitting your roof. It honestly sounds like somebody is just whistling at your window the whole night. It’s really scary.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, attending a ceremony at the Pentagon to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, vowed a full response to Irma as well as continued federal support for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Texas.
“These are storms of catastrophic severity and we are marshalling the full resources of the federal government to help our fellow Americans,” Trump said. “When Americans are in need, Americans pull together and we are one country.”
Florida’s largest city, Miami, was spared the brunt of the storm but still suffered heavy flooding. Utility crews were on the streets there clearing downed trees and utility lines.