Saturday night update: 'The storm is here'
Hurricane Irma is expected to strengthen on its way to Key West as it steers west toward Florida's Gulf coast. This newsletter will be sent out daily to provide up-to-date information about the storm into your mailbox. You are receiving it because you're a subscriber to the Top 5 news list from your local news provider, or because you signed up. If you have friends, family or neighbors who would benefit from this information, please share the sign-up page with them.
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After days of concern Hurricane Irma would barrel into Florida's Atlantic Coast, the massive hurricane is taking a turn in the 11th hour, targeting coastal cities along the Gulf of Mexico.
The Category 3 hurricane, now with 125-mph maximum sustained winds, is expected to be reenergized after it's done tearing through Cuba on Saturday. It's forecast to strengthen into a Category 4 storm overnight as it travels from Cuba to Key West.
Look out Gulf coast
Key West and parts of South Florida are already enduring heavy winds as the outer stretches of Irma's influence makes its way into Florida. It's likely Irma will be packing 140-mph winds when it hits Key West on Sunday morning. From there it will trudge up Florida's southwest coast Sunday and hit near Marco Island, just south of Naples, about 2 p.m. Throughout Sunday afternoon and evening it will inch across the Fort Myers and Sarasota areas. It's set to make a late night/early morning run through St. Petersburg and Tampa, landing just north of the city about 2 a.m. Monday.
From there, the storm moves north, threatening the Big Bend and the state's capital Tallahassee, which called for voluntary evacuations on Saturday afternoon.
But the sheer size of the storm means the Atlantic side of the peninsula will get damaging winds, just not as severe as once predicted. The east is expected to get between 12 and 18 hours of tropical storm conditions and possible hurricane-level wind gusts.
Evacuations by the numbers
Irma's turn resulted in more evacuation orders on Saturday, meaning nearly a quarter of the state's population — 6.3 million people — have been told to evacuate.
Gov. Rick Scott said 54,000 people are housed in more than 260 shelters with another 70 set to open. However, some evacuees spent hours and days looking for refuge as highways grew crowded and hotels filled.
Some evacuees faced long lines in shelters near Fort Myers. A line estimated to be miles long formed outside a shelter in Estero. Some had been turned away once shelters hit capacity.
What will become of Tampa
The coastal city hasn't been hit by a major hurricane in nearly a century. The last time, in 1921, it had a population of 10,000. Now the area has about 3 million people and the storm surge could be as high as 5 to 8 feet there.
Power outages
There were already tens of thousands of people left without power on Saturday in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. As of 4 p.m., Florida Power and Light reported roughly 41,000 customers without electricity in the two counties.
To put this in perspective...
Government and forecaster warnings aside, there are a lot of Florida-specific indicators telling us Irma will be a big storm. 1. Walt Disney World closed for the fifth time in its history; 2. It's about twice as wide as the Florida Peninsula and; 3. Pretty much all college football in the state is a no-go.
Still not convinced?
Here's what the governor said Saturday morning:
“The storm is here. This is a deadly storm and our state has never seen anything like it. Millions of Floridians will see major hurricane impacts with deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds.”
Meanwhile, Florida's zoos argue animal lovers have no reason to fret about them not evacuating their animals. Officials warn against getting too boozy at your Hurricane Irma party. And, if you're wondering what states Irma will go to next, look no further.
Sources: The (Fort Myers) News-Press, Naples Daily News, Florida Today, Treasure Coast Newspapers, Tallahassee Democrat, Pensacola News Journal and Paste BN