Pinoys in Florida brace for Irma

WASHINGTON – Millions of people, including some 150,000 Filipinos, are bracing for the impact of life-threatening 180 miles per hour winds and storm surges of 10 to 20 feet as Hurricane Irma, dubbed by weather forecasters a “nuclear storm,” zeroed in on the Sunshine State.

Mandatory evacuation was ordered in various parts of Florida including Miami beach and workers prepared to shut down two nuclear plants until the passage of the storm, described by Florida Gov. Rick Scott as “a catastrophic storm we’ve never seen.”

The governor declared a state of emergency and activated the Florida Air and Army National Guard to assist in emergency preparations. Irma pounded Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico as it grew in size and intensity in the South Atlantic. Weather forecasters expect it to move between Cuba and the Bahamas before touching down in central Florida over the weekend.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been stretched thin by Hurricane Harvey that battered Texas last week, killing some 60 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Large areas of southeastern Texas are still flooded, including Houston, Port Arthur and Beaumont, and oil refinery operations have been hit hard, sending gas prices up nationwide.

FEMA said it was on the brink of running out of cash for disaster relief and could be in the red by the end of the week.

An emergency relief bill that would provide $7.85 billion in emergency funds is winding its way through the US Congress.

Some meteorologists have likened Irma to Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which devastated Tacloban City in Leyte on Nov. 8, 2013, killing thousands of people. It was the strongest storm to make landfall in recorded history with winds of 195 mph.