Photo: National Hurricane Center/Wikimedia Commons
After pummeling the Caribbean and Cuba, Hurricane Irma, weakened but “extremely dangerous” headed to South Flordia with “destructive: winds and feared heavy rainfall.
By Saturday morning the outer rain bands and gusty winds hit the southern part of Florida, just over 200 miles away from Miami.
The storm, downgraded to category 4, is now taking aim at Florida Keys, according to the latest reports.
“Take action now to protect against destructive winds, dangerous storm surge, and flooding rains,” the National Weather Service urged as officials asked people to evacuate and leave the expected path of the powerful storm.
Irma hit Curba as a Category 5, killing people and destroying infrastructure and homes.
Around 5.6 million people — more than a quarter of the state’s population — have been ordered to leave their homes, a report in The New York Times said.
“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now,” Gov. Rick Scott said at a news conference Friday evening, accordidng to the paper. “Not tonight, not in an hour, now.”
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