Consequences of Irma in Florida. Florida begins to recover from Hurricane Irma

“I have not had internet since Irma hit. The hurricane caused a lot of damage in Miami. Millions of Florida residents are without power,” says Twitter user Makada.

We should not forget about the looters who are rampaging through Miami, taking advantage of the situation. One of the YouTube users posted a video of the robbery of one of the supermarkets.

Miami-Dade County police arrested 28 people for theft and looting during Hurricane Irma.

28 arrests so far for burglary/looting. Our officers remain on patrol and the curfew is in effect until 7am. #HurricaneIrma

Earlier, law enforcement officers caught nine robbers red-handed in the city of Fort Lauderdale. The attackers tried to rob a pawnshop during a storm. Similar cases were observed in Texas during the recent Hurricane Harvey.

Crisis in the Florida Keys
Jane O'Brien, a BBC correspondent from Miami, reports on the situation in the Florida Keys:
Overall, Miami could have been much worse off. The center of the hurricane did not pass through the city itself, but it heavily touched the Florida Keys (the chain coral islands at a distance of about 25 km from the US coast). It is to the islands that the attention of rescuers is focused.

Communications with the islands were still poor on Friday. A number of people evacuated and stayed in the same hotel as us, and they had difficulty maintaining contact with relatives who remained behind.
Reportedly, about 10 thousand people remained on the islands to wait out the storm. We don't know what's wrong with them now.
The first thing rescuers have to do is check how many of the 42 bridges connecting the islands remain intact. If at least one is not functional, then problems may arise - one of the islands may become isolated.

The entire area of ​​the islands is closed - it is impossible to get there until the authorities finish assessing the damage.

Scale rescue operation
More than 6.5 million homes across the state of Florida remain without power. For example, in Collier County, 90% of homes have no power. In Miami, 80% of all high-voltage wires were down, and large areas of the city were flooded, although the city suffered no catastrophic damage compared to many other parts of the state. Many people report that, in addition to electricity, water supply to their homes is intermittent.

Drone video from the city of Naples, on the Gulf Coast about 200 kilometers northwest of Miami, showed rows of destroyed single-story homes and flooded streets between them.

President Donald Trump has pledged a large budget to help Florida, calling Hurricane Irma a “huge monster.”

The money will go to medical service, clearing debris, restoring power supply and repairing buildings.

Manager rescue work in Monroe County (pop. 73,000), Martin Senterfitt says a large rescue mission organized by the Air Force and National Guard will soon arrive in the state, the Miami Herald reports.

The mission should include “emergency burial teams” in the Florida Keys, which are part of Monroe County.

The director of the state government's department of rescue programs, Brian Kuhn, told reporters that it would be impossible to determine the exact number of victims before the rescue operation began.

As little as six inches of moving water can knock you down. Stay inside. Stay safe.

The state of Florida became a victim of Hurricane Irma, which swept through the United States on September 10, 2017. Photos of the consequences of the disaster are simply terrifying. They show the destruction the hurricane left in its wake.

Hurricane Irma swept across the Florida coast on Sunday, September 10. In terms of its strength, it was classified as category 4. After moving through the northwestern part of the state, the storm weakened, reaching tropical storm level by Monday. The storm was expected to soften to a tropical depression by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Irma left behind serious destruction:

• some houses were completely destroyed and many people lost shelter;
• The streets are littered with fallen trees and power poles;
• large areas are flooded;
• boats are washed ashore;
• cars overturned.

Evacuation of state residents

Before the hurricane hit, about 6.3 million people were evacuated from suspected disaster sites. This data was provided by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. People left their homes, taking only the most valuable and necessary things.

The government organized a mandatory evacuation of citizens from the most dangerous regions. 4 days before the hurricane arrived, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a corresponding decree.

Hurricane aftermath

Wind speeds reached 70 miles per hour (more than 110 km/h). The hurricane capsized yachts and other light vessels. The photo below shows a yacht that washed up on the coast in Biscayne Bay (Florida).

In northern Miami, streets along the coast are flooded with water. People leave their homes, collecting necessary things in garbage bags.

In addition to strong winds, Hurricane Irma brought with it torrential rains. The storm left behind destroyed houses, overturned power lines, flooded cars and fallen trees.

The photo shows Maida Estevez. This woman, like many Florida residents, was a victim. natural disaster. She stands in a ruined house, in the middle of what was once the living room.

Maida Estevez's neighbor, Jorge Gonzalez, shows the damage the storm caused to his property. Not only the house was damaged, but also the man’s car.

After the hurricane ended, many settlements were de-energized. More than 2 million citizens were left without electricity.

Flood

Heavy rains led to flooding in many areas. People were forced to leave the suburbs due to increased water levels.

In Orlando, Florida, Army National Guard Spc Thomas Hogan rescued a dog from a flooded area.

The photo, taken in the Daytona Beach area, shows a man climbing across a flooded street.

In North Port, police tried to pull a car out of the water, which was badly damaged by the storm.

The hurricane peaked on Sunday (September 10). Residents of Miami and other Florida cities had to make their way through flooded streets, braving strong gusts of wind.

Elemental Power

During the storm, the wind reached such strength that it uprooted large trees and toppled concrete power poles. The next photo shows a powerful structure that fell from the onslaught of nature. A concrete pillar was blown down near an oceanfront condominium building in Boca Raton.

Most properties were crushed under Irma's powerful onslaught.

An electrical pole that fell on State Highway A1A in Boca Raton is being guarded by police.

Some settlements felt the maximum impact of the natural disaster. The photo, taken in Tampa, shows a young man walking along Bayshore Boulevard past a downed tree. At this time, powerful thunderclouds continue to circle above his head.

Some residential buildings in Tampa were completely destroyed by the elements.

In some areas of Miami and other places, there are cars that have been overturned by gusty winds.

The next photo shows how a large truck turned over on its side under the powerful influence of wind and flooding. This photo was also taken in Miami.

The hurricane was so strong that it uprooted trees. Palm trees that were planted not long ago were swept away by the wind along the roads of Miami Beach.

This tree, which fell in Kissimmee, crashed to the ground a few meters from a residential building, miraculously not hitting the structure.

The following image shows a gas station in North Redington Beach where storm winds toppled a huge structure.

In Orlando, siding was torn off the DoubleTree Hotel. One of the Swiss Public Broadcasting correspondents, Thomas von Grünigen, posted a photo of this building on Twitter. It was taken on Monday morning, after the storm had subsided. The top 4 floors were especially damaged.

The storm's wind was so strong and powerful that sand from the Fort Lauderdale beach moved onto the nearby boulevard.

Jacksonville flood breaks record set in 1964

By Monday morning, the water level reached 60.4 inches (more than 153 cm). This is significantly higher than the 1964 flood.

The St. Johns River overflowed its banks. Its waters flooded the nearby territory of the St. Vincent Medical Center (Jacksonville).

An estimated 5.8 million homes and businesses in Florida and Georgia appear devoid of life. Residents of areas where a powerful disaster was predicted first went to safe places.

HuffPost reporter Sebastian Murdoch posted a photo of the deserted hotel in Miramar where he was staying on his Twitter page.

Irma wiped out an entire species of mammals

Hurricane Irma brought trouble not only to Florida. Having struck Cuba, it caused the death of an entire species of rats, Capromys auritus, also called Cuban Hutias.

These rodents have long been in danger of extinction. Large-eared Cuban Hutia weigh 1-1.5 kg. The body reaches 28 cm in length, and the tail measures approximately 18 cm.

Hurricane Irma caused the formation of high waves which hit the island and led to the flooding of a vast area mangrove forests, where this species of animal lived.

The natural disaster caused the death of several hundred iguanas. Sea sponges and corals were also damaged by the hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center reports that Irma's epicenter is now 85 km east of Tallahassee in Florida. The wind speed at the epicenter is about 95 km/h or 26.3 m/s. At speeds of about 28 km/h, Irma is moving into southeastern Georgia and is expected to affect eastern Alabama on Tuesday.

Irma caused the worst flooding in Jacksonville in 100 years: the historical maximum water rise, set in 1864, has already been overcome and water levels in some areas in the central part of the city have reached 1.2 meters.

Starting today, you can file formal claims for damage caused by Irma to personal property and businesses. If the storm damaged your property, take supporting photos and file a damage claim .

Atlanta is under a tropical storm warning for the first time in the city's history. One of the largest US airports, an important transport hub, announced a partial closure. Delta was the first to report flight cancellations; in total, more than 800 flights were cancelled.

Residents are starting to return from shelters to their homes. There is no information about large-scale destruction; only fallen trees are reported.

Photo @MikeTheiss 3h

Photo by @ZacharyYatesFL

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for Charleston, South Carolina. The warning is in effect until 1 a.m. local time.

The National Hurricane Center just released an updated projection of Irma that shows the storm approaching the Florida-Georgia border. “Irma continues to weaken as it moves across extreme northern Florida,” the center said.

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said about 72% of the city was without power, but officials had a restoration plan. The biggest problem is with roads, Regalado said, adding that thousands of trees have been toppled.

10:00 On Monday, about 900 flights were canceled at Atlanta, Georgia's busiest airport due to Storm Irma. These cancellations account for about a third of the airport's total daily schedule.

Additionally, Delta told customers scheduled to fly to Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday to change their itinerary. The airline will not charge a cancellation fee.

Southwest Airlines says it will operate reduced hours in Atlanta and Birmingham on Monday. The airline hopes to normalize operations at these airports on Tuesday.

08:50 The governor of Florida is urging people not to return to their homes until they are told to do so.

08:30 Hurricane Irma has weakened to a tropical storm with wind gusts of up to 112 km/h. It is expected to weaken further as it continues to move further inland.

07:30 Hurricane Irma has weakened to a Category 1 storm and is within 50 miles of the Tampa Bay area, which has a population of about three million people. At least three people have already died in the south of the state. Now the forecast is for flooding, which has already begun in Miami.

The hurricane is losing strength, with maximum sustained wind speeds of up to 140 km/h.

Although the storm is weakening, it should be feared at least until the end of Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

7:00 The National Hurricane Center is also warning of a tornado threat in northeast Florida, southeast Georgia and South Carolina through Tuesday morning.

6:30 Hurricane Irma became the most powerful tropical hurricane in the world Atlantic coast USA for a decade and caused enormous destruction in the territory of several island states Caribbean:

• Cuba: no casualties were reported, although authorities recalled significant losses. There is no electricity in Havana.

Photo: twitter/picworld‏
@picworldru

• Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy: 60% of all houses on the island of Saint-Martin, which is divided between France and the Netherlands, are uninhabitable, French authorities have said. On the French part of the island, nine people were killed and seven people were missing. Four people died on the Dutch territory of the island.
• Turks and Caicos, British Overseas Territory: significant damage.
• Antigua and Barbuda: 95% of the buildings on this small island are destroyed; Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced that restoration would cost $100,000,000. One person died.
• Anguilla: significant damage, one person died
• Puerto Rico: More than six thousand residents of this American territory are hiding in shelters and many are left without electricity. At least three people died.
• British Virgin Islands: Five people were killed and there was serious damage.

• US Virgin Islands: four people were killed, infrastructure was heavily damaged

6:00 What is known about hurricanes Jose and Katya?

Hurricane Jose, which followed Hurricane Irma, is a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds reaching 190 km/h along its perimeter. It initially threatened the same areas hit by Hurricane Irma, but has now veered north toward the open ocean.

Hurricane Katya, which originated in the Gulf of Mexico, is a Category 1 tropical storm. It struck the Mexican state of Veracruz on Friday evening and then became a tropical high.

Hurricane Irma has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane but continues to move inland. Its speed just after midnight is about 50 meters per second. Several people have already died in the south of the state. Now the forecast is for flooding, which has already begun in Miami.

Florida residents shaken by Hurricane Irma return to their destroyed homes.

The remnants of Hurricane Irma, which had weakened to a tropical storm, moved deeper into the United States, leaving more than half of the state's residents without property and plunging the city streets of Orlando, Miami and other coastal cities under water. This affected the coastal zone of Georgia and South Carolina.

Downgraded to a tropical storm, Irma was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on Monday before it struck the Florida Keys on Sunday and swept north along the Gulf Coast, moving deeper into the United States, damaging the third most populous state, Reuters reported.

Still, the scale of destruction in Florida and neighboring states paled in comparison to the utter devastation of Category 5 Hurricane Irma in parts of the Caribbean, where the storm killed nearly 40 people - at least 10 of them in Cuba - before unleashing its fury in Florida.

The US resort archipelago of Florida Key, which is located in the Gulf of Mexico and is connected to the mainland by one narrow highway, was particularly hard hit, Gov. Rick Scott said at a news conference on Monday. "There's destruction out there," he said, adding that virtually every mobile home on the island chain was left upside down. "It's terrible what we saw."

While some Florida Key evacuees expressed anger that authorities were refusing to allow them to return to their homes on Monday, the US Department of Defense said the 10,000 residents who remained on the island may now be stranded and in need of evacuation.

Florida Key residents were largely evacuated before the storm hit, but police have now set up a highway checkpoint to prevent displaced residents from returning as authorities work to restore power, water, fuel supplies and medical care.

Monroe County fire officials said they would later restore access to the road Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. local time for residents and business owners from Largo, the main island at the upper end of the archipelago, and the towns of Tavernier and Islamorada further south.

The situation in Miami after Hurricane Irma. In Miami, which narrowly escaped Irma's worst winds but experienced severe flooding, residents of the Little Haiti neighborhood returned to the rubble of homes and trailers that had been smashed to pieces by the storm.

“I wanted to cry, but it is what it is, this is life,” said Melida Hernandez, 67, who emerged from a nearby church after the storm, looking at the ruins of her home, split in two by a fallen tree.

Severe flooding was reported Monday in northeast Florida, including Jacksonville, where police were working to rescue residents as the St. Johns River rose to levels not seen since 1846.

"Stay inside. Get up. Don't go out," the Jacksonville website said warning residents. “There is flooding throughout the city.” The city also warned residents to be wary of snakes and alligators entering homes due to flooding.

Before dawn Monday, Florida National Guard troops and local firefighters were rescuing about 150 people from dozens of flooded homes in west Orlando and transporting them in large trucks and rescue boats to shelter on higher ground.

Irma later moved into Georgia, dropping wind speeds to 60 mph, and the storm's tidal waves caused flooding in coastal cities in Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.

Victims of Hurricane Irma in the USA

The storm found its first victim over the weekend in the Florida Keys - a man was found dead in a pickup truck that crashed into a tree due to high winds.

At least one other possibly assault-related fatal vehicle crash was reported Sunday in Orange County, Florida. Two people were killed by falling trees in two Atlanta suburbs on Monday, local authorities said.

About 6.5 million people, about one-third of Florida's population, were removed from their homes before Ira's arrival, and more than 200,000 sought refuge in 700 shelters, according to state data.

State officials are urging evacuees across the state to stay put and not rush home, saying many power lines are down, debris is scattered and there are other dangers including snakes and alligators in people's homes. "Don't put your life at great risk," Gov. Rick Scott said.

One of the biggest problems was widespread power outages, with about 7.4 million homes and businesses without power in Florida and surrounding states. Authorities said it could take weeks to fully restore service to businesses and households. Governor Scott said 65% of Floridians were without power.

Travel to and from Florida also remained unchanged. international Airport Miami, one of the busiest in the country, grounded passenger flights at least through Monday.

Miami-Dade County and Fort Lauderdale police reported 48 arrests for looting.

Insured property losses in Florida due to Hurricane Irma are expected to range between $20 billion and $40 billion. The figure, lower than earlier forecasts of up to $50 billion in insurance losses, helped calm Wall Street as there were fears that Irma would reduce U.S. economic growth.