National Hurricane Center: Irma Will Kill You If You Don ’t Get Out of the Way

The window for Florida residents to safely evacuate narrowed Saturday as Hurricane Irma’s outer bands blew into the southern part of the state on a predicted path for landfall southwest of the heavily populated Miami metro area. The enormous storm weakened slightly to Category 4 with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph), but it was expected to pick up strength again as it takes aim at Florida. The storm was forecast to reach the Florida Keys on Sunday morning before moving up the state’s Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service said damaging winds were moving into areas including Key Biscayne and Coral Gables on Saturday morning, while gusts of up to 56 mph (90 kph) were reported on Virginia Key off Miami. In one of the country’s largest evacuations, about 5.6 million people in Florida — more than one-quarter of the state’s population — were ordered to leave, and another 540,000 were ordered out on the Georgia coast. Authorities opened hundreds of shelters for people who did not leave. Hotels as far away as Atlanta filled up with evacuees. “If you are planning to leave and do not leave tonight, you will have to ride out this extremely dangerous storm at your own risk,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Friday. The governor urged everybody in the Keys, where forecasters expect the storm to hit first, to get out. Ray Scarborough and girlfriend Leah Etmanczyk left their home in Big Pine Key and fled north with her parents and t...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized hurricane irma onetime Source Type: news