Hurricane Irma packs 130 mph winds as 160,000 people wait in shelters  Forecasters
Channel: HUDA
Date: 2017-09-11

Hurricane packs 130 mph winds as 160,000 people wait in shelters

Forecasters expect the storm to hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.

NATION & WORLD  Posted Yesterday at 8:12 AM  Updated September 10 INCREASE FONT SIZEResize Font
Hurricane packs 130 mph winds as 160,000 people wait in shelters
Forecasters expect the storm to hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.
BY TAMARA LUSH AND JAY REEVESASSOCIATED PRESS
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A rough surf surrounds Boynton Beach inlet in Boynton Beach, Fla. Jim Rassol/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
MIAMI — Hurricane Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 130 mph Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.
NATION & WORLD  Posted Yesterday at 8:12 AM  Updated September 10 INCREASE FONT SIZEResize Font
Hurricane packs 130 mph winds as 160,000 people wait in shelters
Forecasters expect the storm to hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.
BY TAMARA LUSH AND JAY REEVESASSOCIATED PRESS
Share facebook tweet email print Comment 13 Comments
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A rough surf surrounds Boynton Beach inlet in Boynton Beach, Fla. Jim Rassol/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP
MIAMI — Hurricane Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 130 mph Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.

The 400-mile-wide storm blew ashore in the morning in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then began a slow march up the state’s west coast, its winds extending clear across to Miami on the Atlantic side.

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Forecasters said it could hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.

“Pray, pray for everybody in Florida,” Gov. Rick Scott said on “Fox News Sunday” as more than 160,000 people statewide waited it out in shelters.


Many streets were flooded in downtown Miami and other cities. In the low-lying Keys, boats were reported sunk and appliances and furniture were seen floating away, but the full extent of Irma’s fury there was not clear.

Irma arrived as a Category 4 storm but by late afternoon had weakened to a Category 2 with 110 mph winds. A storm surge of over 10 feet was recorded in the Keys, and forecasters warned some places on the mainland could get up to 15 feet of water.

The 400-mile-wide storm blew ashore in the morning in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then began a slow march up the state’s west coast, its winds extending clear across to Miami on the Atlantic side.


There were no immediate confirmed reports of any deaths in Florida, on top of the 24 people killed during Irma’s destructive trek across the Caribbean.

Many streets were flooded in downtown Miami and other cities.

In the low-lying Keys, 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 and loose vessels. But the full extent of Irma’s wrath there was not clear.A Miami woman who went into labor was guided through delivery by phone when authorities couldn’t reach her in high winds and street flooding. Firefighters later took her to the hospital.




An apparent tornado spun off by Irma destroyed six mobile homes in Palm Bay, hundreds of miles away along the state’s Atlantic coast. Flooding was reported along Interstate 4, which cuts across Florida’s midsection.
More than 2.7 million homes and businesses across the state lost power, and utility officials said it will take weeks to restore electricity to everyone.

While the projected track showed Irma raking the state’s Gulf Coast, forecasters warned that the entire state — including the Miami metropolitan area of 6 million people — was in danger because of the sheer size of the storm.

Nearly 7 million people in the Southeast were warned to evacuate, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.

About 30,000 people heeded orders to leave the Keys as the storm closed in, but an untold number refused, in part because to many storm-hardened residents, staying behind in the face of danger is a point of pride.






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