Mass evacuations as Irma lashes out
MONSTER Hurricane Irma’s deadly winds lashed the US overnight, bringing tornadoes, knocking out power for thousands and driving storm surges of up to 4.6m along Florida’s coast.
More than 75,000 packed into shelters yesterday in the biggest mass evacuation in US history, with seven million told to leave their homes as 18 million Americans were placed under a hurricane warning.
Some chose to ignore the evacuation order while others missed a narrow window to flee after the storm changed course over the weekend to put low-lying west-coast cities of Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa in its crosshairs.
Although Irma’s progress slowed yesterday to a speed of 9.6km/h, it remains one of the biggest Atlantic hurricanes in history and is twice the width of the state Florida.
“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now. This is your last chance to make a good decision,” Governor Rick Scott said last night. “This is a deadly storm and our state has never seen anything like it.”
He warned anyone who ignored mandatory evacuation orders would likely “not survive”.
Irma broke strength and size records as it churned through the Caribbean last week, and meteorologists yesterday said it had the potential to be one of America’s worst ever hurricanes.
“The core of Hurricane Irma, potentially with winds gusting over 150m/h (241km/ h) or more, is going to come close,” said Weather Channel hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross. “Buildings in southwest Florida are not, in general, built to withstand these winds.”
US President Donald Trump also urged residents in the impending storm’s path to “get out of its way”.
“Property is replaceable but lives are not and safety has to come first,” he said.
Irma earlier collapsed buildings and battered Cuba with deafening winds and relentless rain, while a second hurricane, Jose, threatened to lash already-reeling islands elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Across a chunk of Cuba, power poles were toppled, trees uprooted and roads blocked. And authorities in the city of Santa Clara said 39 buildings collapsed.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Cuba in addition to the 22 dead left in Irma’s wake across the Caribbean, where the storm ravaged such lush resort islands as St Martin, St Barts, St Thomas, Barbuda and Anguilla.