Hurricane Irma: Strong waves brought by Hurricane Irma hit the Malecon seawall in Havana, Cuba, late Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (AP Photo)
After causing devastation in Cuba and killing at least 22 people in the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma is making its way towards Florida in the United States. According to the National Hurricane Centre, the wind gusts near hurricane force began to batter the Florida Keys late night on Saturday.
Believed to be one of the fiercest Atlantic storms in a century, the hurricane has also set off one of the largest evacuations of Americans from a storm. Tracking models showed Irma would make landfall on the western side of the Florida peninsula and heading up the coast, bringing 130-mph (209 kph) winds, storm surges up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) and flooding in some areas, according to Reuters.
According to the National Hurricane Centre, Category 5 is the strongest intensity of a storm. Irma said to be the first ever storm to sustain winds of 185 miles per hour for longer than 24 hours in the open Atlantic Ocean can be devastating if it reaches its full glory.
Here are LIVE updates of Hurricane Irma (According to IST):
9:40 am: A National Ocean Service Station in Molasses Reef, Florida, sustained winds of 54 mph (87 kph) with a gust of 62 mph (100 kph). Key West recently reported sustained winds of 41 mph (67 kph) with a gust of 68 mph (109 kph), according to National Weather Service (Key West).
9:35 am: Warning that Irma would be worse than Hurricane Andrew –which killed 65 people in 1992 — Scott, Florida’s governor, said all 20.6 million Floridians should prepare to flee. “We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our state has never seen,” Governor Rick Scott told reporters according to Reuters. This was also reiterated by President Donald Trump.
Heed the advice of @FLGovScott!
“If you’re in an evacuation zone, you need to get to a shelter…there’s not many hours left.” Gov. Scott pic.twitter.com/92W8ViNMUK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2017
9:30 am: Hurricane Irma’s center shifts west to gain more strength. The storm is now aiming for St. Petersburg, not Tampa, according to AP
9:15 am: According to National Hurricane Centre, Hurricane Irma is expected to cause 10 to 15 feet of inundation above the ground level along the southwest coast of Florida. Wind hazards of Irma are also expected to spread northward through much of Georgia as well as through portions of Carolina and Alabama.
8:58 am:
Hurricane Irma: Waves crash against the Southernmost Point in Key West, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. Hurricane Irma’s leading edge bent palm trees and spit rain as the storm swirled toward Florida on Saturday. (AP)
8:53 am: Florida Power and Light. on its website said that more than half of those outages were in the Miami-Dade area, where about 600,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. The company has also added that it expects millions of people to lose power, with some areas experiences prolonged outages. It has also assembled the largest pre-storm workforce in U.S. history, with more than 16,000 people ready to respond, according to a report in AP.
8:45 am: The hurricane is expected to hit Florida, the fourth most-populated US state on Sunday morning according to the local time. More than 6 million people in Florida and Georgia were warned to leave their homes.
8:40 am: More than 170K homes and businesses without power in Florida as Irma, with winds of 120 mph (190 kph), closes in (AP)
8:36 am: Irma was a category 5 storm when it crashed into Cuba. It gradually weakened to category 3 storm but is expected to strengthen before hitting Florida.
8:24 am: Calling Irma, a “storm of enormous destructive power”, US President Donald Trump asked “everyone in the storm path to heed all instructions, get out of its way.” “Property is replaceable but lives are not and safety has to come first,” he said.
8:13 am: According to The National Weather Service, the first hurricane-force wind gust has been recorded in the Florida Keys. The service says the Smith Shoal Light station recorded a 74 mph (119 kph) wind gust on Saturday night.The center of Irma is headed toward the Keys and has sustained winds of 120 mph (193.11 kph) as reported by AP at 10:15 pm local time.
