Hurricane Irma has finally arrived on the Florida Gulf coast and it is bringing an outpouring of rain all over the central Florida. Hurricane Irma travels through the Florida Keys chains of islands after it is done with Cuba. When it arrives in Florida, it is a Category 4 hurricane with the wind blowing at a speed of 120 mph. By the evening, the hurricane has downgraded to Category 2 with wind traveling at a speed of 100 mph.
The storm first makes landfall on Marco island, an island near to the Florida west coast. They recorded a wind gust moving at a speed of 96 mph in Clearwater Beach. Another wind gust is also recorded in Egmont Channel and moving at a speed of 91 mph. Earlier, the wind was howling through Fort Myers. As the wind blows, tree branches snapped and alarms sound of vehicles can be heard every now and then.
A surge of more than 10 feet has been recorded in the low lying islands of Florida Keys. A lot of household stuff like furniture can be seen floating on the ocean water. Now, the ocean is filled with all kinds of hazards. Even sunken boats are appearing on the surface of the ocean water. Storm surge of up to 7 foot has also been reported in the Naples where the water level increase to over 2 meters within a period of 1 hour 30 minutes.
The government has already issued an evacuation order. At least 6.3 millions people have responded to the evacuation order and evacuated the area. President Donald Trump has approved the disaster and emergency aid. Over 160,000 people have put up at shelters that are available statewide until the storm is over.
The roads in the financial district of Miami are heavily flooded with over 2 feet of water and one of the main streets in Florida is so flooded that it looks like a river. Two cranes are destroyed by the powerful strong winds. The flood is forecast to cause the most extensive damage to the west coast. At least 3.4 million homes in Florida now do not have access to electricity.
It is forecast that Irma will make its way to the western part of Florida by early Monday before heading to the southeastern part of USA on late Monday or early Tuesday. The storm has caused 3 deaths in Florida so far. One of the men died on Saturday after he accidentally collides into a tree when the storm arrives.
The administrator of the county said they will be sending crews to check for survivors in every house on Monday. They are going to dispatch airborne relief team consists of C-130 military cargo planes to the homes in the Florida Keys.
