Power knocked out to most of state
Irma remained so powerful that flood-trapped residents of Jacksonville were urged to wave a white flag for help.
“If you need to get out, put a white flag outside your house,” the Jacksonville sheriff’s office tweeted. “A T-shirt, anything white. Search and rescue teams ready to deploy. Get out.”
Jacksonville residents along the St. Johns River were flooded by waters 4 to 6 feet above the normal high tide level.
Mayor Lenny Curry urged locals to get to higher ground. City buses were used to evacuate residents. “Swift rescue” specialists in small boats cruised flooded neighborhoods.
“You need to be concerned,” the sheriff’s office warned.
In St. Johns County, just south of Jacksonville, the Fire Rescue Division reported “numerous homes” damaged by high winds. One collapsed into the ocean.
In New York, Gov. Cuomo ordered 10 Black Hawk helicopters and 55 soldiers from the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade to Florida to help with the relief effort.
The Navy dispatched the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, the amphibious transport dock New York and the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to help with search and rescue and other relief efforts.
Scott said the damage along the Gulf Coast was not as bad as feared.
Lindsay Bruce, who rode out the storm in Naples, said the city dodged a bullet. The anticipation of Irma’s arrival was fortunately the worst part of her experience.
“Luckily we didn’t have to deal with the same monster everyone else did,” Bruce, 38, said.
“The rain was moving sideways, so fast it was like a white blur,” she recalled, describing “howling winds.”
The storm caused only minor damage to roof tiles, flooding and fallen trees, she said.
The reaction was similar in Tampa. Irma struck the floodprone city early Monday as a Category 2 hurricane.
Rescue crews continued to evacuate stranded residents, including at more than 120 homes in Orange County, which includes Orlando, because of flooding.
Miami also breathed a sigh of relief.
Residents of the Brickell neighborhood emerged from their apartment buildings to survey the damage from winds and widespread flooding that whipped through the financial district.
It seemed the neighborhood was spared the worst, despite Biscayne Bay sitting a mere 200 yards away from many high-rises.
Cuba, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands and other Caribbean islands fared much worse. At least 36 people died in the area during the ferocious storm.