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Irma lashes Bahamas, Cuba on a path toward Florida

By Marc Frank

 

A man walks past boats lying on the seashore in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Ricardo Rojas

 

HAVANA (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma lashed Cuba and the Bahamas as it drove toward Florida on Friday after hitting the eastern Caribbean with its devastatingly high winds, killing 21 people and leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake.

 

Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, was expected to hit Florida on Sunday morning, bringing massive damage from wind and flooding to the fourth largest state by population. A historic evacuation was underway in southern Florida, crowding highways and leaving gas stations without fuel.

 

The storm could regain strength and hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (258 km per hour), the most powerful designation by the National Hurricane Center.

 

The United States has experienced only three Category 5 storms since 1851, and Irma is far larger than the last one to hit the United States in 1992, Hurricane Andrew, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 

"We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now. This is a catastrophic storm like our state has never seen," Governor Rick Scott told reporters, adding that the storm's effects would be felt from coast to coast in the state.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a videotaped statement that Irma was "a storm of absolutely historic destructive potential," and called on people to heed recommendations from government officials and law enforcement. In Palm Beach, Trump's waterfront Mar-a-Lago estate was ordered evacuated.

 

Irma, currently a Category 4 storm, was about 345 miles (555 km) southeast of Miami, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory. Hurricane conditions were spreading westward over parts of Cuba and the central Bahamas as the storm skirted near Cuba's northern coast.

 

The storm earlier pummeled the Turks and Caicos Islands after saturating the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

 

The storm was downgraded from a rare Category 5, the top of the scale of hurricane intensity, to a Category 4 early Friday but it still carried winds as strong as 155 mph (250 kph), the NHC said.

 

Irma was forecast to bring dangerous storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) to the southeastern and central Bahamas, and up to 10 feet (3 meters) on parts of Cuba's northern coast.

 

Cuban television broadcast footage of the sea flooding coastal towns in the eastern provinces of Guantanamo and Holguin, with waves reaching 20 feet (6 meters). With the storm still well offshore, flooding from the storm surge and inland from rain and swollen streams and rivers were the main concerns.

 

Cuba's Communist government has traditionally made rigorous preparations when the island is threatened by storms and the country was at a near standstill as Irma began to drive up the northern coast from east to west.

 

Irma was forecast to move closer to land as it passed the centre of Cuba later in the day and on Saturday, when it could seriously damage resorts on vulnerable keys. Tourists, and even the dolphins that entertain them, were evacuated. The storm was then predicted to veer north, sparing western Cuba and Havana.

 

In the Cuban fishing town of Caibarien, residents secured their roofs and moved belongings from low-lying coastal areas to houses higher up inland as the skies clouded over. Most said they were worried but well prepared.

 

Esteban Reyes, 65, was pushing his bicycle taxi laden with a mattress, iron and DVD player. "We are used to storms, but I'm still a bit scared. But the government has taught us to be prepared and help one another," he said.

 

In the Bahamas, the government evacuated most people from the southern islands before the storm hit, with some 1,200 people airlifted to the capital, Nassau.

 

"DON'T BE COMPLACENT"

 

Irma was set to hit the United States two weeks after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas, killing about 60 people and causing property damage estimated at up to $180 billion in Texas and Louisiana. Officials were preparing a massive response, the head of FEMA said.

 

In several television interviews early Friday, Florida's governor pleaded with residents to leave areas designated for evacuation, although he acknowledged frustration with buying gas and handling bumper-to-bumper traffic.

 

About 9 million people in Florida may lose power, some for weeks, said Florida Power & Light Co, the biggest power company in Florida serving almost half of the state's 20.6 million residents.

 

Amid the exodus, nearly one-third of all gas stations in Florida's metropolitan areas were out of gasoline, with scattered outages in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to Gasbuddy.com, a retail fuel price tracking service.

 

In Miami-Dade County alone, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said authorities had asked about 660,000 residents to evacuate, adding that this was the largest evacuation he could remember in the county.

 

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida said his state was far more prepared now than in 1992, when Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida.

Supermarkets in Miami were full of shoppers picking up last-minute supplies and food, and long lines of cars wrapped around the few gas stations still open.

 

Kenneth Weipert, a stranded tourist from Scotland who was getting cash from an ATM at a boarded-up bank, said he had made multiple attempts to book a flight, with no luck.

 

"We have never been through anything like this before and we are quite worried about it," said Weipert. "We are in the hotel and the hotel is hurricane-proof, allegedly," he added.

 

A mandatory evacuation on Georgia's Atlantic coast was due to begin on Saturday, said Governor Nathan Deal, who expanded a state of emergency to include 94 of 159 counties as the storm's predicted track shifted west. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on Friday added his state to those under a state of emergency.

 

The governors of North and South Carolina warned residents to remain on guard even as the storm took a more westward track, saying their states still could experience severe weather, including heavy rain and flash flooding, early next week.

 

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended slightly lower as investors braced for potential damage from Irma as it moved toward Florida. Many economists are predicting that third-quarter gross domestic product will take a hit due to the hurricanes.

 

HURRICANE JOSE REACHES CATEGORY 4

 

As it roared in from the east, Irma ravaged small islands in the northeastern Caribbean, including Barbuda, St. Martin and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, flattening homes and hospitals and ripping down trees.

 

Even as they came to grips with the massive destruction, residents of the islands hit hardest by Irma faced the threat of another major storm, Hurricane Jose.

 

Jose, expected to reach the northeastern Caribbean on Saturday, was an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph), the NHC said on Friday.

 

The death toll from Irma has risen to 21 as emergency services gained access to remote areas.

 

The storm passed just to the north of the island of Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, damaging roofs and causing flooding and power outages as it approached the Haitian side. One man was reported missing after trying to cross a river in Haiti's Central Plateau region, and the government said some 10,000 people were in emergency shelters.

 

Graphic - Irma's path-NHC:

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-09

 

 

[FreddieRoyle]

Well it's just past dusk in S Fla now, but I've been watching the many live webcams, really fascinating stuff. The harbors are interesting, just looking at all the yuuge yachts that are about to be blown into matchwood and fiberglass shards. Some harbors such as Coconut Grove it looks like they moved all the small boats - hundreds of them - to outside the harbor - presumably so they don't smash into the rich chappies gin palaces that are all still tied up to the docks.

 Good luck to all in it's path, and remember the worst threat has passed. Billionaire marxist Richard Branson is safe, thank the Lord.

[ilostmypassword]

29 minutes ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Well it's just past dusk in S Fla now, but I've been watching the many live webcams, really fascinating stuff. The harbors are interesting, just looking at all the yuuge yachts that are about to be blown into matchwood and fiberglass shards. Some harbors such as Coconut Grove it looks like they moved all the small boats - hundreds of them - to outside the harbor - presumably so they don't smash into the rich chappies gin palaces that are all still tied up to the docks.

 Good luck to all in it's path, and remember the worst threat has passed. Billionaire marxist Richard Branson is safe, thank the Lord.

And after calling Hurricane warnings plots by climate change activists and liberals to alarm the public, Rush Limbaugh has put demonstrated his disdain for their alarmism by bravely fleeing the approaching storm.

 

[pegman]

2 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Well it's just past dusk in S Fla now, but I've been watching the many live webcams, really fascinating stuff. The harbors are interesting, just looking at all the yuuge yachts that are about to be blown into matchwood and fiberglass shards. Some harbors such as Coconut Grove it looks like they moved all the small boats - hundreds of them - to outside the harbor - presumably so they don't smash into the rich chappies gin palaces that are all still tied up to the docks.

 Good luck to all in it's path, and remember the worst threat has passed. Billionaire marxist Richard Branson is safe, thank the Lord.

Some brainiac was interviewed in Key Largo said his 50' boat was made for 170mph winds. No problem riding the storm out in it. I hope CNN goes back post Irma to see if him and his wife have any unbroken bones.

[spidermike007]

What I am curious about, is how do they know Irma is about to take a northerly turn? It continues on it's westward path, as of now. Somehow, they have known for a couple of days, that just after it slams into Cuba, it is going to take an 80 degree turn to the north. How? Why? If it does, this may turn out to be the great natural disaster that the US has ever faced. In it's history. Hope it does not travel as they predict it will.

[JLCrab]

The best thing about Irma is that right now -- if you are reading this -- you probably aren't there.

[Andaman Al]

49 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

What I am curious about, is how do they know Irma is about to take a northerly turn? It continues on it's westward path, as of now. Somehow, they have known for a couple of days, that just after it slams into Cuba, it is going to take an 80 degree turn to the north. How? Why? If it does, this may turn out to be the great natural disaster that the US has ever faced. In it's history. Hope it does not travel as they predict it will.

I think the predictions now are quite accurate as the models take into account all the surrounding weather systems. So areas of high pressure will push and shove the hurricane over, when the high pressure areas move the hurricane will take the path of least resistance and 'move over'. When that is tied in with how the hurricane reacts when it hits landfall (the land will cause a slowing down and loss of energy on that particular side of the system) the hurricane will move in a predictable way. When it hits the ocean again and feeds off the warm water the winds speed up and again it shifts. Nothing is perfect but the computer models are now all pretty accurate when they take into account all the known effects.

 

This storm is so huge and powerful I hate to think what would be the result if the eye wall takes a stroll through the centre of Miami.

Edited September 9, 2017 by Andaman Al

[Stargeezr]

I am curious about the people who chose to ride out the hurricane, are they also prepared for

the very long power outage as well. Get ready for the food in the fridges and deep freezers

all to start smelling. Good luck to all the people in Florida, I wonder how many drivers ran out of gas on

the highways while trying to get away from their part of the State.

Geezer

[Scott]

I am pretty sure that people who are riding out the storm were given fair warning that the power would be out for an extended period of time.   It's been pretty widely discussed on the news.   The electrical supply is pretty much the first thing to go.  

[ilostmypassword]

6 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

I am curious about the people who chose to ride out the hurricane, are they also prepared for

the very long power outage as well. Get ready for the food in the fridges and deep freezers

all to start smelling. Good luck to all the people in Florida, I wonder how many drivers ran out of gas on

the highways while trying to get away from their part of the State.

Geezer

I was in a category 5 hurricane once and the worst thing is afterwards. We knew intellectuallyl what the upshot would be but the actualy experience of it is something else. And that was during a previous epoch  before our sanity depended on access to the internet.

[Scott]

Troll post and reply removed.  

[JLCrab]

I lived in Florida for many years but luckily never went through more than a Category 3.and then always way inland.

The official Florida hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30. The time to buy your hurricane supplies is in January.

[sirineou]

I am relieved to hear that the Hurricane is now taking  a North Westerly track that will put it on the west coast instead of the east coast.

  We own a  home in the east coast of Florida  half way north of Daytona , and south of Saint Augustine a couple of miles from the beach. I have not being there for months living and working in NY, my 21 year old daughter who lives nearby was supposed to send me my mail.Her mom (my ex) went to the house to borrow something  and noticed a bunch of mail , put it in an envelope and sent it to me. 

I received the envelope a day before me and my wife were leaving for a week in Greece and then a few weeks to Thailand, in it was a home insurance cancellation letter , (it was  saturday insurance office closed).  I also found out that there was a hurricane heading directly for my home, and that it was the strongest ever recorded !!!!

 I called  my agent monday from Greece , nothing to be done, no insurance was crazy enough to write a policy.

  It could had being a very costly situation for me and understandably I was  concerned to say the least and as much as I feel bad for the people in the west coast where I have many friends, I am relieved it might miss as.

  We are not out of the woods yet but it is looking better , I will post an update as soon as it passes our area and have more info.  

[Scott]

Best of luck.  

[iReason]

 

[DavisH]

13 minutes ago, iReason said:

 

That's an ominous warning for anyone in the path of the hurricane....that's where all the water is. 

[sceadugenga]

I have a friend in St Martin who's been off the radar for a while now.

What sort of time limit would I be looking at before internet communication is restored?

I don't have a phone number for him.