Irma strengthens to Category 5
Hurricane packing 185 mph winds eyes Fla. landfall this weekend
“Potentially catastrophic” Hurricane Irma strengthened Tuesday to a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph, making it the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic since 2005.
Irma tied for the second- strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, could slam into Florida’s coast over the weekend. A mandatory evacuation for visitors to the Florida Keys was set to begin at sunrise Wednesday, with residents required to evacuate later in the day.
“If ever there was a storm to take seriously in the Keys, this is it,” Monroe County Emergency Management Director Martin Senterfitt said. The county’s three hospitals were planning to evacuate patients, he added.
The hurricane will blast the northern Caribbean with life- threatening flooding, damaging winds and rough surf over the next few days, Accuweather said. A similar scenario could then play out somewhere along the Gulf or East coasts of the U. S. this weekend or next week, depending on where Irma tracks.
Gov. Rick Scott warned Floridians to “prepare for the worst.” He declared a statewide state of emergency and activated 100 Florida National Guard members to help with storm preparations. The state’s full complement of 7,000 Guard members will report for duty Friday.
Scott urged residents to stock up on water and food and to learn emergency shelters’ locations.
“We don’t know what is in store, but we all have to be prepared,” Scott said. “When there’s an evacuation, listen. In the middle of a hurricane, no one can rescue you.”
At 8 p. m. ET Tuesday, the center of Hurricane Irma was located 50 miles east- northeast of Antigua, and it was moving west at 15 mph. Only Hurricane Allen in 1980, with winds of 190 mph, was stronger. Wilma in 2005, Gilbert in 1988, an unnamed 1935 hurricane and now Irma have hit 185 mph.
A Category 5 hurricane can destroy a high percentage of framed homes, which suffer total roof failure and wall collapse, the hurricane center said. Fallen trees and power poles can isolate residential areas, and power outages can last for months.
Hurricane warnings were in effect Tuesday for several Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, where “preparations should be rushed to completion,” according to the hurricane center.