Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida on Saturday, 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 the eye of Irma was beginning to slowly move away from the coast of Cuba as it moved northwest toward Florida.
As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the center said the core of Irma would reach the Florida Keys on Sunday, with “major hurricane force winds” expected at daybreak. The storm was expected to move along or near the southwest coast of Florida by Sunday afternoon.
The westward track, which was a change from earlier expectations, left some residents and officials scrambling to find shelter.
Irma made landfall in Cuba 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 125 miles per hour, the center said. It was expected to strengthen again over Florida.
subrscribe now for more videos.
