Hurricane #Irma has made landfall in Cuba as a rare category 5 storm with sustained winds of 160 MPH. #GOES16 pic.twitter.com/kCjLrsRDps
— NASA SPoRT (@NASA_SPoRT) September 9, 2017
After hitting the north coast of Cuba on Friday, Hurricane Irma headed directly for south Florida on Saturday afternoon, forcing millions to evacuate.
At 11 a.m. Eastern time, the National Hurricane Center warned of “an imminent danger of life-threatening storm surge flooding” and predicted “10 to 15 feet of inundation above ground level” along the southwest coast of the state. There have been at least 25 reported deaths in the Caribbean islands hit by Irma earlier this week.
An incredible 6.3 million people have been ordered to evacuate the southern half of Florida — perhaps the largest evacuation in U.S. history — clogging interstates and other roads throughout the area. Florida Governor Rick Scott previously told residents of southwest Florida to stay put if they hadn’t already evacuated by noon today.
Arkansas Times contributor David Ramsey and his family were among those forced to flee. They’re sheltering in Gainesville — well away from the coasts and the deadly storm surge, though the city could still receive hurricane-force winds. Gainesville is packed with evacuees, Dave reports, though most people are headed farther north; police are being stationed at gas stations, which are rapidly running out of fuel.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Jose strengthened to a Category 4 in the Atlantic, though the most recent forecasts predict the core of the storm may miss the Caribbean islands just devastated by Irma.
Irma will likely make landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday morning, where winds from the massive hurricane’s outer edge are already causing damage. Retweeted by the National Weather Service in Key West:
A reasonable worst case scenario has over half of Key West underwater due to storm surge
This is why @NWSKeyWest is saying to get out #irma pic.twitter.com/2xfv0anPsY
— Greg Diamond (@gdimeweather) September 9, 2017