FLORIDA ON IRMA ALERT
Massive Cat 5 storm churns in Caribbean
A “potentially catastrophic” Hurricane Irma — packing winds in excess of 180 mph — has fearful Florida officials ordering mandatory evacuations.
The Florida Keys, a tourist hot spot, is particularly vulnerable.
“If ever there was a storm to take seriously in the Keys, this is it,” Monroe County Emergency Management Director Martin Senterfitt told the Miami Herald. “The sooner people leave, the better.”
Sunshine State Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for all 67 counties yesterday and ordered all 7,000 members of the state’s National Guard to report for duty on Friday.
“This hurricane is far too powerful, poses far too great a threat, for us to delay actions any further,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said yesterday when urging residents to brace for the oncoming cyclone.
Irma is being labeled an “extremely dangerous” and “life-threatening” Category 5 storm. It strengthened yesterday morning to sustained winds of 180 mph as it chugged westward across the Atlantic on a track now showing a direct hit on southern Florida by Sunday.
The National Weather Service increased the alarm, calling the hurricane “potentially catastrophic.”
Irma is currently forecast to remain a major hurricane with sustained winds greater than 110 mph should it directly impact the continental United States.
The last time a Category 5 hurricane made landfall in the U.S. was Andrew in 1992, also in Florida. The storm killed 65 people and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.
Hurricane warnings for Irma have been posted in the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba, St. Martin, Puerto Rico, and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, among others. The government of the Bahamas has issued a hurricane watch for the Turks and Caicos islands and southeastern Bahamas.
A hurricane watch has also been issued for the north coast of Haiti.
Scott said he asked President Trump to request a federal emergency in advance of Irma’s arrival and began coordinating rescue efforts that include 13 helicopters and 1,000 high-wheeled trucks capable of driving through high water.
North Carolina’s National Guard is also on standby to help with evacuations from the Keys, if needed, and the National Guard is lining up an additional 30,000 troops, 4,000 trucks and 100 helicopters to be on standby, the governor’s office said in a statement.