Preparations continue as Irma marches onward

As Hurricane Irma makes its way closer to the Florida Peninsula, flights continued to cancel, counties moved forward with additional evacuations and shelters prepared to house hundreds of thousands of residents across South Florida on Thursday.

As of 5 p.m., Thursday, forecasters at the National Weather Service expect the storm to hit South Florida as a strong Category 4 storm. Tropical storm-force winds are expected to hit Palm Beach Count y by Saturday afternoon and hurricane winds by before dawn Sunday. The direct path is still uncertain.

“We know it will come very close to South Florida, but 50 miles will make all the difference between tens of billions of dollars and a few billion dollars,” said Jeff Masters, a hurricane expert and co-founder of Weather Underground. “The thing to emphasize is if you are in the cone, you are in the cone, you are in danger of a direct hit.”

In Palm Beach County, there are mandatory evacuations for bar- rier islands, those near the Intracoastal Waterway and Loxahatchee River and the Glades community along Lake Okeechobee, 153,000 residents in all. The number of county shelters dropped from 15 to 13 with the Glades evacuation, though county officials will continue to search for more.

Flights out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami were delayed and canceled throughout the day, and service was expected to be suspended Friday evening.

BRUCE R. BENNETT / THE PALM BEACH POST Harlowe, a black howler monkey from South America, looks out from a carrier inside the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Animal Care Complex at the Palm Beach Zoo as the zoo prepares for Hurricane Irma on Thursday. “This is our largest hurricane shelter on...

ANDRES LEIVA / THE PALM BEACH POST A City of Lake Worth grounds crew on Thursday lifts floorboards off the Lake Worth Municipal Pier. The pier closed at noon on Thursday, and will remain closed until sometime after Hurricane Irma passes by.

RICHARD GRAULICH / THE PALM BEACH POST Tony Rogers, of Boynton Beach, prepares to fly his 1960s Piper Aztec to a friend’s secure hanger at Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana on Thursday.

BRUCE R. BENNETT / THE PALM BEACH POST Someone at Harry’s Banana Farm bar in Lake Worth decided to have a little fun with this sign that was spotted on Thursday.