Hurricane Irma will be 'devastating' to US - Fema head

[DFighter]

Hurricane Irma will "devastate" either Florida or neighbouring states, the head of the US federal emergency agency has said.

Brock Long said parts of Florida would be without power for days. Half a million people in the state have been ordered to leave their homes.

Hurricane Irma has left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean, affecting an estimated 1.2m people.

At least 20 people are known to have died so far.

It has been downgraded to a category four storm, but officials warn that it remains "extremely dangerous".

The US National Weather Service says that Irma was expected to bring wind speeds of around 165mph (270km/h) over the weekend as it hits Florida.

"Hurricane Irma continues to be a threat that is going to devastate the United States in either Florida or some of the south-eastern states," Mr Long said.

"The entire south-eastern United States better wake up and pay attention," he added.
 

Florida Governor Rick Scott said all Floridians should be prepared for possible evacuation, and issued a stark warning to those in threatened areas.

"We are running out of time. If you are in an evacuation zone, you need to go now," he told reporters.

"Remember, we can rebuild your home, we can't rebuild your life."

The death toll continued to rise on Friday in the Caribbean.

France's Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said nine people were dead and seven missing in the French territory on St Martin, an island shared with the Netherlands, and St Barthélemy, known more commonly as St Barts. Another death - the second - has been confirmed in the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten.

French officials said six out of 10 homes on Saint-Martin were so badly damaged that they were uninhabitable.

The US Consulate General in Curacao said it believes an estimated 6,000 Americans are stranded on the island.

French, British and Dutch military authorities have deployed aid - including warships and planes equipped with food, water and troops - to their territories

Reporting from another badly damaged island, Barbuda, the BBC's Laura Bicker says the destruction there is worse than feared.
 

Where is Irma - and where next?

The storm lashed the Turks and Caicos islands and brought torrential rain to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, before battering the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas.



A huge evacuation of south-eastern, low-lying coastal areas in the Bahamas has been ordered. The tourism ministry said in a video statement that thousands of tourists left before the storm's arrival.

Meanwhile Mr Long predicted a "truly devastating" impact on Florida.

South Florida "may be uninhabitable for weeks or months" because of the storm, the US National Weather Service said.

On the archipelago of Turks and Caicos, with its population of about 35,000, one witness described a drop in pressure that could be felt in people's chests.

Irma ripped off roofs on the capital island, Grand Turk, flooded streets, snapped utility poles and caused a widespread black-out.

Governor John Freeman told the BBC that people in low-lying areas were evacuated and sent to shelters. The islands' highest point is only 50m (163ft).

Irma also caused some damage to roofs, flooding and power outages in the northern parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Turks and Caicos Islands: widespread damage, although extent unclear

Barbuda: the small island is said to be "barely habitable", with 95% of the buildings damaged. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne estimates reconstruction will cost $100m (£80m). One death has been confirmed

Anguilla: extensive damage with one person confirmed dead

Puerto Rico: more than 6,000 residents of the US territory are in shelters and many more without power. At least three people have died

British Virgin Islands: widespread damage reported

US Virgin Islands: damage to infrastructure was said to be widespread, with four deaths confirmed

Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Both battered by the storm, but neither had as much damage as initially feared



Source video's full topic: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41203724

 

[CheepHeep]

This is unreal... I feel so bad for the people affected. Wish I could help...

[Shinobi]

Any hurricane classified as a category 5 is surely a menace. Thoughts are with the ones being impacted!

[LazyHippo]

Think this hurricane has broken Wilma´s record, wich I experienced. I really feel very lucky for this storm dont come this way but they surely reminds me of the force of nature wich is amazingly powerfull, back in 2005 with Wilma we really lived some rough situations, me and my family had to evacuate the city of Cancun, our runnaway bus got stucked on a big lake in the highway path as the driver tried to make it to the other side, we had to leave bus and luckily a stock tráiler lift us all (including my mom, 2 brothers and 2 cousins) and we made our way to Merida wich was 300kms away and we did it for about 15hrs in that tráiler on a 3hrs normal drive, was surely a wicked experience in wich me and my relatives happily survived.

[RedBaird]

We have at least one clan member in the path of this storm : https://fearless-assassins.com/user/3041-old-timer/

 

I didn't realize it until he posted a status update : https://fearless-assassins.com/statuses/user/3041-old-timer/?status_id=117590

 

Here is the Lakeland government website, which opens on this Hurricane page : https://www.lakelandgov.net/hurricane-guide/ and not on their homepage.

 

Here is their Live-Look at the storm, centered on Lakeland ; http://secure.lakelandgov.net/

 

Here is a screencap of their current image

You can see the ClearWater name off the West coast, and Tampa inland east of that, and then Lakeland in the middle of Florida.

 

Their government did a good job on their site.  I suspect that they have been preparing that page for many years.

 

Good Luck, Old Timer .  

[Old Timer]

Thank you RedBaird and everyone for your thoughts and prayers. The storm will probably hit our area around 2:00 am Monday morning. We're about as ready as we can be. Right now the wind and rain is starting to pick up. My fiance's daughter and three kids are with us as her husband works for Tampa PD and had to report for duty Friday and stay on duty until at least Tuesday. I've lived in Lakeland for 31 years so this might turn out to be the biggest hurricane experience yet. We have plenty of food, water and ice. Loss of power is always a consideration so we do what we can if it happens. 

 

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. 

[Krayzie]

My uncles hunkered down in his house in Tampa. Says hes already lost power, about 65mph winds, but believes its gonna pass just west of him and avoid the brunt of the storm. Hopefully it dies down a bit by the time it gets all the way up Florida.

[RedBaird]

We have another friend in the storm's path : https://fearless-assassins.com/topic/89627-sorry-king/

[Sick jacken]

Nature can be way too harsh sometimes, when nature "speaks" we humans must remain silent we can do nothing againt her, i wish i could be i a position i could help even a single person, i can't imagine how hard is ur life being threatend and having to evacuate ur house, well good luck to our friends who cope with this situation i hope that there are going to be minimum damages!!

[Old Timer]

Update: Finally got internet back! Woo Hoo!!! Well we survived Hurricane Irma. The eye ended up traveling right over Lakeland but we had no damage to the house or cars. Lots of debris and branches. Our power went out around 1:00 am Monday morning but was restored that afternoon by 2:00 pm. A lot of my friends and co-workers are still without power. We took in two families to help out until they have power restored. King, welcome to Florida. I'm only 45 minutes down I-4 westbound from you. Hope you enjoy living here. 

 

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. 

 

Until the next hurricane...

[LazyHippo]

Update: Finally got internet back! Woo Hoo!!! Well we survived Hurricane Irma. The eye ended up traveling right over Lakeland but we had no damage to the house or cars. Lots of debris and branches. Our power went out around 1:00 am Monday morning but was restored that afternoon by 2:00 pm. A lot of my friends and co-workers are still without power. We took in two families to help out until they have power restored. King, welcome to Florida. I'm only 45 minutes down I-4 westbound from you. Hope you enjoy living here. 

 

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. 

 

Until the next hurricane...

 

Thats way better than expected, excellent news man happy for you, fortunately Irma weakened enough to prevent major damage or loss of lives, except what happened in the Florida keys that I read there were 3 dead.

Now we have category 1 hurricane Jose drifting in the tropical Atlantic but it seems there will be no problem with him so far...

[RedBaird]

... The eye ended up traveling right over Lakeland but we had no damage to the house or cars. Lots of debris and branches. Our power went out around 1:00 am Monday morning...

 

I would guess that it is more fearsome to have a hurricane passing over at night.  People would want to look outside and see what is going on, rather than just hearing the wind howl and making their homes creak and groan while unknown things are hitting their walls.  A storm surge creeping in at night and trying to escape it is another harrowing thought.

 

Our ancestors would not have had modern and bright battery-powered lights, but dim candles and lamps.

[DoubleDragon]

I was lucky it turned west a few miles missed the edge of the storm like 100 miles