Hurricane Irma now heading towards Florida

International Desk: Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida, leaving a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean and prompting officials to direct 6.5 million Florida residents to leave their homes in one of the largest emergency evacuations in American history.

On Saturday evening, Gov. Rick Scott of Florida warned that the state could get as much as 18 inches of rain, with the Florida Keys getting up to 25 inches.

Southwest Florida could see a storm surge of 15 feet above ground level, and entire neighborhoods stretching northward from Naples to Tampa Bay could be submerged.



“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now,” Mr. Scott said at a 6 p.m. news conference. “This is your last chance to make a good decision.”

The National Hurricane Center said on Saturday evening that the eye of Irma was continuing its slow, stuttering movement away from the coast of Cuba as it headed northwest toward Florida.

The center said that the core of Irma was expected to cross the lower Florida Keys on Sunday morning and that wind gusts “near hurricane force” were already ripping through the Keys as of 10 p.m. Saturday.

The storm was then expected to move up the west coast of Florida before reaching Georgia on Monday afternoon. That westward track, which was a change from earlier expectations, left some residents and officials scrambling to find shelter. Late Saturday, forecasters said the storm’s projected path had again shifted “ever so slightly” west.



Irma made landfall in Cuba on Friday evening as a Category 5 hurricane, lashing the island’s northern coast with a direct hit. It became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in Cuba since 1924.

The hurricane was downgraded to Category 3 on Saturday but still had winds of 120 miles per hour, the center said. It was expected to strengthen before making landfall in Florida.

Agencies



risingbd/Dhaka/Sep 10, 2017/Nasim