More than 6.3 million Florida residents have been ordered to evacuate, state officials say, leading to traffic jams, fuel shortages and overrun hotels
Hurricane Irma remained on track Saturday to strike Florida as an extremely dangerous major hurricane, though its path has moved westward, increasing the threat to cities like Tampa along the state’s Gulf Coast.
Regardless of its precise path, the storm is forecast to bring life-threatening “wind impacts” to much of the state of 20.6 million people. Maximum sustained winds dipped to 125 miles per hour after the storm hit Cuba, and it is now a Category 3 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. But it is expected to regain strength before pummeling the Florida Keys starting early Sunday morning, and then move along the Southwest Florida coast Sunday afternoon.
The storm killed at least 22 people as it tore through the Caribbean starting early Wednesday. The National Weather Service office in Key West posted all-caps warnings that “THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS” stressing that “NOWHERE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS WILL BE SAFE.”
Senior meteorologist for the weather service in Key West, Alan Albanese, said Irma would bring a punishing cocktail of destructive winds, major storm surge, torrential rains, possible tornadoes and widespread power outages.
“This is a very serious threat, potentially catastrophic,” he said. “A lot of people down here in the Keys have not experienced anything with the potential…