MIAMI – Hurricane Irma’s deadly fury threatened to swamp low-lying islands of the Bahamas with a possible 20-foot storm surge Friday as the massive storm moved toward Florida’s doorstep and increasingly threatened to ravage the state with destruction not seen in a generation.
The window to escape the path of Irma in Florida was rapidly closing. Forecasters said Irma will be near South Florida by Sunday morning and could potentially make landfall somewhere there, churning ashore in the wide band between the densely populated Atlantic coast and the 100-mile string of islands from Key Largo to Key West before veering to the north through the state and, potentially, on toward more population centers up the Eastern Seaboard.
“Irma is likely to make landfall in Florida as a dangerous major hurricane, and will bring life-threatening wind impacts to much of the state regardless of the exact track of the center,” the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
Local, state and federal officials offered dire warning after dire warning, making clear how much danger they felt Florida could be facing in the coming days.
“It’s not a question of if Florida’s going to be impacted, it’s a question of how bad Florida’s going to be impacted and where the storm ends up,” William “Brock” Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said at a briefing on Friday.
Long called Irma “a threat that is going to devastate the United States, either Florida or some of the southeastern states,” and he urged people from Alabama to North Carolina to monitor and prepare for the storm.
Floridians are familiar with ominous forecasts and hurricane warnings, and many in the state have memories of the brutal impact left behind by Hurricane Andrew – which made landfall as a Category 5 monster in 1992. But when asked about people in South Florida who intend to ride out the storm at home, Long was blunt.
“I can guarantee you that I don’t know anybody in Florida that’s ever experienced what’s about to hit South Florida,” Long said. “They need to get out and listen and heed the warnings.”
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning covering all of South Florida, where local officials have begun ordering people to leave their homes before Irma arrived. On Friday, the center said that Irma’s maximum sustained winds were near 150 mph and that it was expected “to remain a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.”
“Time is running out,” said Gov. Rick Scott, R, also suggesting that evacuation zones could spread all the way to the state’s northern border after Irma comes ashore. “All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate,” he added.
Fleeing to safer ground was not an option for many in the Caribbean, where Irma had claimed at least 16 lives – a toll expected to increase – and had the prime minister of tiny Barbuda grasping for a word to describe the devastation. The island, said Gaston Browne, was now “rubble.” France’s minister for overseas territories, Annick Girardin, described “scenes of pillaging” on St. Martin as people cleaned out stores and roamed the streets in search of food and water.
On Haiti’s northern coast, the mayor of the city Fort Liberty, Louis Jacques Etienne, called it a “nuclear hurricane.”
“Crops are destroyed, cattle is dead, and my cities are broken. It is bad. Very very bad,” he said.
The hurricane center had said Irma could vacillate between a Category 4 or 5 designation and described it as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm whose ferocious punch included surging seas.
In addition to packing intense power, Irma was also a remarkably big storm, with hurricane-force winds extending some 70 miles from the center – and tropical-storm force winds extending as far as 185 miles out.
A swell of up to 20 feet above high tide was expected in the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas – enough to cover huge portions of an archipelago where the highest point is just over 200 feet above sea level. And another powerful hurricane was following in Irma’s wake.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Jose loomed as another threat, with the National Hurricane Center saying late Friday morning that it was “now an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” expected to bring life-threatening flooding to the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and other areas already left reeling by Irma.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
A woman carries her grandmother away from her home which was flooded by rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images
Debris and trash is seen on a beach in Cap-Haitien on Sept. 7, 2017, as Hurricane Irma approaches.
Irma was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 185 mph (295 kph) as it followed a projected path that would see it hit the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday, continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north for Florida.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
A boy sits on wall near his home flooded by heavy rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).
Curtis Compton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution via The Associated Press
A fleet of utility trucks head south along Interstate 71 toward the Georgia coast, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Griffin, Ga., in preparation for Hurricane Irma. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Lucita Leonce 71, complains in front of her home flooded by heavy rains brought on by Hurricane Irma, in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).
NASA, NOAA GOES Project via Getty Images
In this NASA/NOAA handout image, NOAA's GOES satellite shows Hurricane Irma (C) in the Caribbean Sea, Tropical Storm Jose (R) in the Atlantic Ocean and Tropical Storm Katia in the Gulf of Mexico taken at 15:45 UTC on Sept. 08, 2017. Hurricane Irma barreled through the Turks and Caicos Islands as a category 4 storm en route to a destructive encounter with Florida this weekend.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A picture taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows inhabitants of the Sandy town neighborhood clearing off wreckages in a street in Marigot on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds of people gather in an emergency shelter at the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami, Florida, Sept. 8, 2017, ahead of Hurricane Irma.
Florida Governor Rick Scott warned that all of the state's 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern US state.
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images
People sit on a tree next to a flooded river, in the north east of Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Irma has been downgraded to a Category Four hurricane but is still extremely dangerous, the National Hurricane Center said.
Osvaldo Gutierrez Gomez, ACN via The Associated Press
Handlers from the Cayo Guillermo dolphinarium prepare dolphins for their transfer to the dolphinarium in Cienfuegos, located on Cuba's southern coast, just hours before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma spun along the northern coast of Cuba, where thousands of tourists were evacuated from low-lying keys off the coast dotted with all-inclusive resorts. Irma has left at least 20 people dead and thousands homeless on a devastated string of Caribbean islands. (Osvaldo Gutierrez Gomez/ACN via AP)
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images file
People walk in a street that was flooded in Malfeti, in Fort Liberte, Haiti, on Sept. 8, 2017, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Facebook / Carole Greaux / Restricted To Editorial Use - Mandatory Credit "afp Photo / Facebook / Carole Greaux " - No Marketing No Advertising Campaigns - Distributed As A Service To Clients Carole Greaux, AFP/Getty Images
This handout picture released on the Facebook account of Carole Greaux on Sept. 6, 2017 shows a flooded street in Gustavia, on the French administered territory of Saint Barthelemy, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean, with its violent winds and torrential rains leaving a trail of devastation and killing 12 as it barreled towards the United States where up to a million people were told to flee.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.
Amy Beth Bennett, South Florida Sun Sentinel via The Associated Press
Carol Schumacher, who plans to ride out Hurricane Irma with her husband, Bob, and dog Casey, sits in a lawn chair in the front yard of her Lauderdale-By-The-Sea home as her husband finishes up hurricane preparations Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, in Pompano Beach, Fla. ( Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
TOPSHOT - A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 rushed to provide water, emergency rations and rescue teams to territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
TOPSHOT - People look at damage on Sept. 7, 2017, in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin in the northeast Caribbean, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.
Ian Brown, The Associated Press
In this image made from video shows a damage to a post office caused by Hurricane Irma in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. Hurricane Irma weakened slightly Thursday with sustained winds of 175 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm boasted 185 mph winds for a more than 24-hour period, making it the strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm was expected to arrive in Cuba by Friday. It could hit the Florida mainland by late Saturday, according to hurricane center models.
Dieu Nalio Chery, The Associated Press
Personal papers and notebooks recovered from a flooded home are spread out on a cot in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. Irma rolled past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday with waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters).
Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun Sentinel via The Associated Press
A homeowner in Dania Beach, Fla., has a stern warning painted on his boarded up window Friday, Sept. 7, 2017, ahead of Hurricane Irma.
Anika E. Kentish, The Associated Press
In this Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, photo, damage is left after Hurricane Irma hit Barbuda. Hurricane Irma battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday as the fearsome Category 5 storm continued a rampage through the Caribbean that has killed a number of people, with Florida in its sights.
Anp / Gerben Van Es / Netherlands Out / Restricted To Editorial Use - Mandatory Credit "afp Photo / Dutch Defense Ministry/gerben Van Es" - No Marketing No Advertising Campaigns - No Archives - No Sale- Distributed As A Service To Clients Gerben Van Es, AFP/Getty Images
An aerial photography taken and released by the Dutch department of Defense on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the damage of Hurricane Irma in Philipsburg, on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten.
Hurricane Irma sowed a trail of deadly devastation through the Caribbean on Wednesday, reducing to rubble the tropical islands of Barbuda and St Martin.
Jonathan Falwell via The Associated Press
This Sept. 6, 2017 photo shows storm damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in St. Martin. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees. Significant damage was reported on the island known as St. Martin in English which is divided between French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows broken palm trees on the beach of the Hotel Mercure in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.
Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images
A woman pulls a travel case on a rock scattered road in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 7, 2017.
One of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, the rare Category 5 hurricane churned westward off the northern coast of Puerto Rico early Thursday on a potential collision course with south Florida, where at-risk areas were evacuated.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 7, 2017 shows ships wrecked ashore, in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the island of Saint-Martin in the northeast Caribbean, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the Hotel Mercure in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, during the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images
The Desir family wait next to their house as they prepare to go to a shelter to await the arrival of Hurricane Irma, in Cap-Haitien, on Sept. 7, 2017.
Irma was expected to hit the northern edges of the Dominican Republic and Haiti later Thursday, continuing past eastern Cuba before veering north towards Florida.
Lionel Chamoiseau, AFP/Getty Images
A photo taken on Sept. 6, 2017 shows cars piled on top of one another in Marigot, near the Bay of Nettle, on the French Collectivity of Saint Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.
France, the Netherlands and Britain on September 7 sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, which has killed at least 10 people. The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where eight of the 10 confirmed deaths took place.
AFP Photos/Dutch Defense Ministry/Gerben Van Es
An aerial photograph taken and released by the Dutch Department of Defense on Sept. 6, 2017 shows the damage of Hurricane Irma, on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten.
Tatiana Fernandez, The Associated Press
A home is surrounded by debris brought in by Hurricane Irma in Nagua, Dominican Republic, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean, leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees. Irma flooded parts of the Dominican Republic when it roared by Thursday, just off the northern coast of the island it shares with Haiti.
Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel via The Associated Press
Tyrone Tomlinson, 27, of Orlando, uses a family wheelchair to ferry sandbags to be used on the front porch of their family home in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, as residents prepare for Hurricane Irma. Long lines of vehicles waited for hours to get a 10 sand bag limit at the City of Orlando Public Works.
Marta Lavandier, The Associated Press
Max Garcia, of Miami, waits in a line since dawn to purchase plywood sheets at The Home Depot store in North Miami, Fla., Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Florida residents are preparing for the possible landfall of Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history.
Al Diaz, Miami Herald via The Associated Press
Traffic is seen heading North along the Florida Turnpike near Homestead, Fla., as tourists in the Florida Keys leave town on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)
Rinsy Zieng, AFP/Getty Images
A handout grab image made from a video released on Sept. 6, 2017 by RCI Guadeloupe shows flooded streets and damage on the French overseas island of Saint-Martin, filmed from a terrace of the Beach Plaza hotel after high winds from Hurricane Irma hit the island.
Monster Hurricane Irma slammed into Caribbean islands today after making landfall in Barbuda, packing ferocious winds and causing major flooding in low-lying areas. As the rare Category Five storm barreled its way across the Caribbean, it brought gusting winds of up to 185 miles per hour , weather experts said.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images
A sign in a business reads, 'Go Home Irma Youre Drunk,' as people prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Miami, Florida. It's still too early to know where the direct impact of the hurricane will take place but the state of Florida is in the area of possible landfall.
Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press
Joshua Alicea, rescue staff member from the Municipal Emergency Management Agency removes a fallen tree while touring the streets of the Matelnillo community searching for citizens in distress during the passage of Hurricane Irma through the northeastern part of the island in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. The US territory was first to declare a state of emergency las Monday, as the National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm would strike the Island Wednesday.
Emily Michot, Miami Herald via The Associated Press
A gas station has their windows boarded as gas was still flowing at the station on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017 in Miami. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast Wednesday as Hurricane Irma roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.
Rinsy Zieng, AFP/Getty Images
A handout picture released on Sept. 6, 2017 on the twitter accound of RCI Guadeloupe shows a flooded street on the French overseas island of Saint-Martin, after high winds from Hurricane Irma hit the island.
Monster Hurricane Irma slammed into Caribbean islands today after making landfall in Barbuda, packing ferocious winds and causing major flooding in low-lying areas. As the rare Category Five storm barreled its way across the Caribbean, it brought gusting winds of up to 185 miles per hour , weather experts said.
Michele Eve Sandberg, AFP/Getty Images
Empty shelves are seen as people make Hurricane Irma preparations at a Winn Dixie store in South Florida on Sept. 6, 2017 in Hallandale, Florida.
Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday and was on a collision course with Puerto Rico and potentially south Florida.
Hector Retamal, AFP/Getty Images
A man watches while a bulldozer clean debris in a canal, in Cap-Haitien, on Sept. 6, 2017, 240 km from Port-au-Prince, as preparatives before the arrival of Hurricane Irma. Some people in Cap-Haitien still do not have information on the arrival of Hurricane Irma and many others do not know what to do or where to go to take shelter.
Jose Jimenez, Getty Images
A street is flooded during the passing of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2017 in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. The category 5 storm is expected to pass over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands today, and make landfall in Florida by the weekend.
Marc Serota, Getty Images
Three men install hurricane shutters at the Made 2 Order Restuarant in Islamorada, Florida on Sept. 6, 2017. The storm has grown to a category 5 and is expected to make landfall in the Florida Keys this weekend.
Mark Wilson, Getty Images
A concessioner worker realizes he loading too many lounge chairs on his cart during preparations for approaching Hurricane Irma on Sept. 6, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Current tracks for Hurricane Irma shows that it could hit south Florida this weekend.
Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel via The Associated Press
Drivers wait in line for gasoline in Altamonte Springs, Fla., ahead of the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irma, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Irma roared into the Caribbean with record force early Wednesday, its 185-mph winds shaking homes and flooding buildings on a chain of small islands along a path toward Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola and a possible direct hit on densely populated South Florida.
Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press
A man drives through rain and strong winds during the passage of hurricane Irma, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. The US territory was first to declare a state of emergency las Monday, as the National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm would strike the Island Wednesday.
Johnny Jno-Baptiste, The Associated Press
A man surveys the wreckage on his property after the passing of Hurricane Irma, in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. Heavy rain and 185-mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico's northeast coast as Irma, the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever measured, roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a possible hit on South Florida.
Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images
Passengers wait to check in at the departures terminal of the Pole Caraibes international airport in Pointe-a-Pitre, which re-opened on Sept. 6, 2017, after hurricane Irma hit the island.
Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, cut a deadly swath through a string of small Caribbean islands on Wednesday and was on a collision course with Puerto Rico and potentially south Florida.
Yanelis Gomez pushes her cart after shopping at a local supermarket as she prepares for Hurricane Irma, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Hialeah, Fla. Hurricane Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday on a path that could eventually take it to the United States.
NOAA via AP
In this GOES-East satellite image taken Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 at 3:45 p.m. EDT, and released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Irma, a potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane, moves westward in the Atlantic Ocean toward the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday on a path that could eventually take it to the United States.
Lara Cerri, Tampa Bay Times via AP
Joseph, Jr., right, 15, of St. Petersburg, bends down to carry sandbags to his family's vehicle at Lealman Community Park, in St. Petersburg, Fla., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, as residents prepare for Hurricane Irma.
Joe Raedle, Getty Images
People line up to get their propane tanks filled as they prepare for Hurricane Irma on Sept. 5, 2017 in Miami, Florida. It's still too early to know where the direct impact of the hurricane will take place but the state of Florida is in the area of possible landfall.
Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images
Workers from a hardware store secure plywoods on top of a car as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Bayamon, on Sept. 5, 2017.
In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.
Carlos Giusti, The Associated Press
Cyber School Supply Christopher Rodriguez is supported as he installs wood panels over a storefront window in preparation for Hurricane Irma, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017. Irma grew into a dangerous Category 5 storm, the most powerful seen in the Atlantic in over a decade, and roared toward islands in the northeast Caribbean Tuesday.
Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images
Islata Marina cay is seen as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017.
In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.
Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images
Boats are seen docked at a marina as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017.
In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.
Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images
A firefighter helps a sailor to secure the anchoring of his boat on Sept. 4, 2017 at the harbour in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French overseas island of Guadeloupe, as part of preparations for arrival of Hurricane Irma.
Ricardo Arduengo, AFP/Getty Images
Workers install storm shutters as hurricane Irma approaches Puerto Rico in Fajardo, on Sept. 5, 2017.
In Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.5 million, Governor Ricardo Rossello activated the National Guard and announced the opening of storm shelters able to house up to 62,000 people. The major of the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto, ordered 900 municipal employees -- police, emergency personnel, and aid and social workers -- to report for rotating 12-hour shifts.Even if Puerto Rico is spared a direct hit, the mayor said, three days of pounding rain will do heavy damage.
Helene Valenzuela, AFP/Getty Images
People queue at a supermarket as they buy goods as part of preparations ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma on Sept. 5, 2017, in the French overseas island of Guadeloupe.
Irma picked up strength and has become an "extremely dangerous" Category Five hurricane as it approached the Caribbean on September 5, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported. The monster hurricane, the most powerful of the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, is about 270 miles east of the island of Antigua packing maximum sustained winds of 175 miles (280 kilometers) per hour.
In Florida, the crush to leave had millions of people on the move. Highways were jammed, gas was scarce, airports were packed and mandatory evacuations began to roll out as the first official hurricane watches were issued for the region, which could face destruction not seen since Hurricane Andrew.
Miami-Dade County ordered some mandatory evacuations, including for Key Biscayne and Miami Beach, as well as for areas in the southern half of the county that are not protected by barrier islands. About 660,000 people were evacuated across the county, the largest evacuation order in its history, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday.
“EVACUATE Miami Beach!” Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine tweeted, later noting in a news release that once winds top 40 mph, first responders will no longer be dispatched on rescue missions here. Adding to the anxiety for those able to leave town, police in Miami shot a knife-wielding man Thursday night who had entered a restricted area at the city’s international airport.
Other evacuation zones were in place across much of South Florida. States of emergency also were declared in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in anticipation of Irma’s path early next week.
Scott, the Florida governor, ordered that all state offices, public schools, state colleges and state universities be shut down from Friday through Monday “to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging.” Many public schools across South Florida and in the Tampa Bay area had already canceled classes, while colleges had also shuttered campuses and rescheduled football games.
Airports around the state said they would suspend flights and cease operations. Publix, the grocery store chain, announced plans to close stores across the state in waves and did not say when they would reopen.
Tom Bossert, homeland security adviser to President Donald Trump, on Friday said that people in or near Irma’s path need to listen to local instructions and take the needed precautions.
“At some point, people are going to be on their own, so to speak, for a period of time during which the flooding, the raining and the wind bear down on them, and they need to be prepared if they are in that path and haven’t taken some action to get themselves in a less dangerous position, to be ready for at least a 72-hour period, that would be my advice, for them to have enough food, water and shelter before the government can get back in,” Bossert said during a White House briefing. “We have pre-deployed and pre-staged, but we can’t actually get to that final point of care until conditions permit.”
Still, adding to the anxiety in Florida was uncertainty about where Irma will make landfall.
“The wild card here is the turn. Anytime a hurricane makes a turn, it introduces uncertainty,” Mark DeMaria, acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told The Washington Post in the center’s headquarters in west Miami-Dade County.
DeMaria noted that the computer models have fluctuated modestly, with adjustments in the consensus track of 50 miles or so every day. “But 50 miles onshore versus right of the coast makes a huge difference in impact,” he said.
The combination of Florida’s geography, the pattern of urban settlement in narrow bands along the coasts and the projected northerly path of the hurricane presents a particularly ominous picture.
“This is a large storm coming from the south,” said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the hurricane center. “That’s the worst-case scenario, because it takes in the entire Gold Coast population, and you have the greatest impact from storm surge from that direction.”
At the National Hotel on Miami Beach, a manager announced Thursday in four languages – English, Spanish, Portuguese and French – that guests needed to evacuate because of a city order. At the front desk, guests were given a sheet listing the locations of emergency shelters, none of which were likely to be as nice as the beachfront Art Deco hotel, which was restored a few years ago.
“This morning as I walked to work, I could see the things that could become projectiles,” said Natalya Garus, 35, lead concierge at the National. “Street signs. Coconuts. All the trash cans. Smoking stations. All the decorations.”
As she spoke, workers used a ladder to dismantle a decorative light fixture hanging over the hotel entrance.
Ruben Vandebosch, 28, and Wim Marten, 26, both of Belgium, and Jim Van Es, 24, of the Netherlands, said their plan is to drive to Atlanta.
“Atlanta has a nice ring to it,” Vandebosch said. “It sounds cool.”
Joseph “Tony” Vincent, 82, braked his 3-wheeled bicycle to a stop in the Naples Mobile Home Park. He has seen many storms and planned to hit the road for Irma, but he was not heading too far – he has weekend room reservations at a modest motel just outside the park, along Tamiami Trail.
“I seen Hurricane Donna blow the river completely out of its banks in Fort Myers,” he declared Friday morning. “A 2-story frame house swayed in the wind. This one is even bigger. I’m not dumb. My mama didn’t raise no fool.”
Vincent said that even if he had the money, he wouldn’t leave his home state over a hurricane.
“Hell, you’d be safer here than taking a car on those roads. You might be killed before you get to Atlanta,” he scoffed.
If Irma fizzles, Vincent said he’ll just ride his three wheeler back to his trailer. “I’ll come on home and get drinker than hell,” he said.
The Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens – otherwise known as Zoo Miami, which sprawls across more than 700 acres and has more than 3,000 animals – closed down on Thursday but said it would not be moving its animals.
“We don’t evacuate our animals since hurricanes can change direction at the last minute and you run the risk of evacuating to a more dangerous location,” the zoo said in a statement. “Furthermore, the stress of moving the animals can be more dangerous than riding out the storm. The animals that are considered dangerous will stay in their secure night houses, which are made of poured concrete and welded metal.”
When Hurricane Andrew struck, the zoo was hit hard. Tropical birds were missing, cages torn apart and animals traumatized – through, miraculously, most of the animals were unharmed.
Among those evacuating: Forty dogs from the Miami-Dade County animal shelter. They’re being flown to New York on a private plane owned by a dog lover named Georgina Bloomberg, according to Lauree Simmons, president and founder of the Big Dog Rescue shelter in Loxahatchee, Florida.
Big Dog staff went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey, rescuing 60 dogs from the floodwaters. Those dogs are awaiting adoption at the no-kill shelter. Simmons’s 33-acre rescue center has 457 dogs and puppies living in air-conditioned bunkhouses. Staff members were working frenetically Thursday packing up the contents of offices trailers. The dog bunkhouses, meanwhile, are fitted with hurricane impact glass built to withstand 200-mile-an-hour winds, Simmons said.
“The dogs will be very comfortable,” she said. “We’ll stay here with them through the storm and just keep hoping for the best.”
Popular shopping and dining areas of Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami, were nearly completely empty, the businesses buttoned up with metal curtains and new plywood protecting their front windows. The mostly spotless sandy beaches in Fort Lauderdale were virtually empty despite the green flags attached to all its lifeguard stands indicating “low hazard” for anyone wanting to take a dip in the ocean.
Tatiana Wood, 33, a waitress at a restaurant in Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road Mall, said she has a friend of a friend who lives in Oklahoma, but she was unclear of the distance or whether she would try to get there.
“If you try to escape, you may lose money,” Wood said. “If you stay, you might lose your life.”
Berman reported from Washington. Patricia Sullivan in Naples, Florida; Kimberly Kindy in Orlando, Florida; Lori Rozsa in Palm Beach County; Dustin Waters in Charleston, South Carolina; Leonard Shapiro and Perry Stein in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Anthony Faiola in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Brian Murphy and Jenna Johnson in Washington contributed to this report.