PLANTATION, Fla. — Heavy squalls “with embedded tornadoes” were sweeping across South Florida Saturday as the state braced for the arrival of Hurricane Irma, which forecasters warned could bring life-threatening winds and storm surges.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott strongly urged people to leave ahead of the Category 3 hurricane, which is expected to reach the Florida Keys Sunday morning.
“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said in Tallahassee Saturday evening. “This is your last chance to make a good decision.”
The governor said the powerful hurricane remains a “catastrophic and life-threatening major Category 3 storm.” Forecasters say the hurricane will likely restrengthen before it hits Florida. Nearly 6.3 million people were ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm, which is expected to hit Sunday morning.
The Latest on the Storm
The National Hurricane Center said at 8 p.m. that “heavy squalls with embedded tornadoes” were sweeping across Southern Florida. The National Weather Service said on Twitter that a tornado touched down in Oakland Park, north of Fort Lauderdale. The fire department said there was no structural damage or injuries.
Hurricane Irma was about 110 miles southeast of Key West. Scott cautioned that the storm will cause “life-threatening” surges as high as 15 feet in southwest Florida.
Approximately 76,000 residents, mostly in South Florida, had already lost power Saturday, according to Scott. Florida Power & Light warned Friday it was expecting “unprecedented” power outages that could affect about 9 million people.
“This will cover your house,” Scott said of the storm surges, adding, “You will not survive all this storm surge.”
Related: Up to 9 Million Floridians Could Be Without Power After Irma, Some for Weeks
A significant storm surge was expected from Cape Sable on Florida’s southern tip, up along the west coast to Tampa, with water levels possibly reaching eight feet, said Michael Brennan, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
Brennan added that in some places along the southwestern coast of Florida there remained a risk of “catastrophic life-threatening storm surge,” with water rising 10 to 15 feet.
The center of Hurricane Irma is forecast to reach the Florida Keys Sunday morning, and the National Hurricane Center warned “major hurricane force winds” are expected there by daybreak. It is then expected to move north on or near the southwest coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.
Not everyone heeded the warnings. Brian Cone, a boat captain in Tavernier in the Florida Keys, said he is staying at home, which he said is built of cement and which he compared to “a bunker.”
“Truthfully, the whole state of Florida is in trouble and there’s nowhere safe,” Cone told MSNBC in a phone interview. He said he and his neighbors have generators, batteries, food and water and other supplies. “We feel it was more dangerous to travel all over the state, run out of fuel possibly … We’re gonna ride it out,” Cone said.
Many of Florida’s communities had become ghost towns on Saturday. In Plantation, just inland from Fort Lauderdale, the once busy streets had gone quiet, and the only sounds were the quickening winds pulling at the trees and the occasional car passing by.
Juan Carlos Lorca, 42, who has lived in Florida for 25 years, took a stroll ahead of the hurricane to get some fresh air. Lorca, a construction worker, said he was quick to prepare for the storm when he first heard about it: boarding up his windows, picking up cash from the bank, and buying water, gas, ice, food and — most importantly — wine and beer.
He called the storm a temporary vacation, but urged people to be careful.
“I should not be here,” he said. “But I wanted to get some fresh air. By 2 p.m., everyone should be back in their home.”
“What I see on the news,” he added, “that is very wrong if people are still on the beach.”
Related: Hurricane Jose Pulls Away From Islands Devastated By Irma
Nevertheless, despite the governor’s warnings and the increasingly dangerous circumstances, people still gathered on beaches to take photos.
While some remained home, many attempted to seek refuge at shelters, but were having a tough time getting in. Thousands in Lee County on Florida’s west coast, waited in lines that snaked down the block for up to five hours, as officials attempted to check in residents. Many decided to evacuate or head for the shelters once Irma shifted to the west.
Hurricane Irma has already claimed at least 23 lives after smashing through a string of Caribbean islands this week, including Barbuda, St. Martin, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where 1 million people were left without electricity. Some Caribbean islands already hit by Irma were bracing for another storm, Hurricane Jose, on Saturday.
Scott said Florida has been “aggressive” in its preparation for Irma, adding that there were more than 385 shelters open across the path of the storm. More than 70,000 Floridians have taken shelter already, he said, adding that “there is still room for more.”
“Protecting life is our absolute top priority,” Scott said, urging residents to evacuate. “No resource or expense will be spared to protect families.”
But the governor said Florida does have a shortage of nurses and urged volunteers to come forward. He asked for about 1,000 to help at various shelters. In Collier County, which includes part of the Everglades, more than 11,800 people were housed in 30 shelters. Nurses were flown in overnight from Texas to help.
On Friday, Irma, which had been a Category 5, slammed into Cuba’s northern coast “hard,” the National Hurricane Center said Saturday. The Cuban Civil Defense had evacuated about 1 million people and there were widespread reports of home and infrastructure damage and loss.
Scott warned this week that Irma is on track to be “bigger, faster and stronger” than Hurricane Andrew, the devastating Category 5 storm that caused major damage in the state a quarter-century ago.
Meanwhile, north of Florida, states were also preparing for Irma’s arrival. In Georgia, 540,000 residents were told to leave the coast, while in South Carolina, nearly 45,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
Kalhan Rosenblatt reported from Plantation, Florida, Phil McCausland reported from New York, and Saphora Smith reported from London.