Irma goes blasting through
HURRICANE Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 200km/h on Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.
The 640-km wide storm blew ashore in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then marched up the state’s western coast, its punishing winds extending clear across to Miami and West Palm Beach on the Atlantic side.
Irma was nearing the heavily populated Tampa-St Petersburg area late Sunday, though in a much-weakened state.
While it arrived in Florida a Category 4 hurricane, by nightfall it was down to a Category 2 with winds of 160km/h.
Meanwhile, more than 160,000 people waited in shelters statewide as Irma headed up the coast.
There were no immediate reports of deaths in Florida. At least 24 people were killed in the Caribbean.
In the low-lying Keys, where a storm surge of over 3 metres was recorded, appliances and furniture were seen floating away, and Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said the ocean waters were filled with navigation hazards, including sunken boats. But the full extent of Irma’s wrath there was not clear.
The county administrator, Roman Gastesi, said crews would begin house-to-house searches yesterday to check on survivors. And an airborne relief mission, led by C-130 military cargo planes, was gearing up to bring emergency supplies to the Keys.
The National Hurricane Center said a federal tide gauge in Naples re- ported a 2-metre rise in just 90 minutes late Sunday.
Many streets were flooded in downtown Miami and other cities.
Curfews were imposed in Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and much of the rest of South Florida, and some looters were arrested.
More than 3.3 million homes and businesses across the state lost power. It will take weeks to be restored.
While Irma raked Florida’s Gulf Coast, forecasters warned the entire state was in danger.
In one of the largest US evacuations, nearly 7 million people in the southeast were warned to seek shelter elsewhere, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.
About 30,000 people heeded orders to leave the Keys, but an untold number refused.
A weakened Irma is now expected to push into Georgia, Alabama, Mis- sissippi, Tennessee and beyond. A tropical storm warning was issued for the first time ever in Atlanta, 320km inland.
Irma at one time was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic, a Category 5 with a peak wind speed of 300km/h.