PLANTATION, Fla. — Hurricane Irma turned its fury on Florida’s Gulf Coast after making two landfalls Sunday and raking the southern half of the state with ferocious winds and torrential rains.
The center of Irma’s eye passed over Cudjoe Key at 9:10 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center reported, and by 3:35 p.m. it made landfall again on Marco Island, 180 miles south of Tampa.
The Latest on the Storm
- Irma restrengthened to a Category 4 storm early Sunday as it hit the lower Florida Keys with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph just after 7 a.m. ET. It made landfall on Cudjoe Key at 9:10 a.m.
- It later weakened further to a Category 2 after making landfall on Marco Island as a Category 3.
- It could reach Fort Myers by Sunday night, passing the Tampa Bay area before moving to northern Florida on Monday morning.
- The Florida Keys and the southwest Florida coast are in the most danger of storm surges of around 10 feet.
- The Keys could get 10 to 20 inches of rain, and the peninsula could get 8 to 15 inches. Tornadoes watches are in effect.
Irma weakened somewhat to a Category 2 strength Sunday afternoon as it closed in on the city of Naples at 5 p.m., but with maximum winds of 110 mph, it was “expected to remain a powerful hurricane while it moves near or along the west coast of Florida,” the NHC warned.
“Water levels in Naples rapidly rising,” the center said in a 6 p.m. update.
From Naples north to Tallahassee, the capital, residents braced for life-threatening storm surges of up to 15 feet in some places.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
In Tampa and vulnerable St. Petersburg, two cities that have not been struck by a major hurricane since 1921, 6 p.m. curfews were declared.
Classic Florida attractions like the Weeki Wachee Mermaids show were shuttered until Tuesday. And at Busch Gardens in Tampa, workers herded the flamingos and other animals to shelters.
“There is a serious threat of significant storm surge flooding along the entire west coast of Florida,” Gov. Rick Scott warned at a noon news conference. “And this has increased to 15 feet of impact above ground level in southwest Florida.”
Tampa Bay, which is home to about 3 million Floridians, could see surges of 5 to 8 feet, the NHC warned.
Tornado warnings were in place across the state Sunday as thousands of Floridians were hunkered down in homes and shelters and howling gales rattled shuttered windows and tore trees up by their roots.
A twister was reported at Fort Lauderdale International Airport, the National Weather Service said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
At 5 p.m., 2.5 million Florida Power & Light customers were without power, the utility said, with the largest outages in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
In Miami, many streets were also submerged, and there were reports of at least two construction crane collapses downtown.
“There are areas of south Florida and the Keys that have already had 12 inches of rain,” Scott said.
Photos: Hurricane Irma Faces Off With Florida
In Orlando, Mayor Teresa Jacobs announced a county-wide curfew starting at 7 p.m. and said people who live in mobile homes should leave and “seek shelter immediately.”
“We’re continuing our door-to-door outreach, using loudspeakers through mobile home parks, to make sure we reaching everyone that we can,” she said.
South of Tampa, Hardee County Sheriff Arnold Lanier confirmed that one of his deputies was killed in a car crash Sunday morning; a corrections officer was also killed. The deputy, Julie Bridges, 42, who had been on the force for 13 years, had spent the night working at a shelter and was heading home when the crash occurred.
“She was a very fine deputy, and we are grateful for her service,” Lanier told NBC News. “It is a tremendous loss.”
Related: Hurricane Irma: How to Help Storm Victims
State Attorney General Pat Bondi said Bridges’ car collided with the corrections officer’s vehicle. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida identified the dead corrections officer as Sgt. Joseph Ossman.
While weather was likely a factor, the deaths were not immediately blamed on Irma.
The stress from the hurricane appeared to be getting to some Floridians. After a “Shoot at Irma” event posting went up on Facebook, the sheriff in Pasco County tweeted, “DO NOT shoot weapons @ #irma.”
Nearly 6.3 million people were ordered to evacuate before the storm. Not everyone heeded the calls.
Brian Cone, a boat captain in Tavernier in the Florida Keys, said he was staying in his cement-built home, which which he compared to “a bunker.”
“Truthfully, the whole state of Florida is in trouble. I mean, there’s really nowhere safe,” Cone told MSNBC in a telephone interview. He said he and his neighbors have generators, batteries, food, water and other supplies. “We feel it was more dangerous to travel all over the state, run out of fuel possibly,” he said. “We’re going to ride it out.”
Related: Ahead of Irma, One Naples Bar Staying Open Despite Evacuation Orders
In Miami-Dade County in the southeastern part of the state, police encouraged residents to stay indoors as the storm was hitting early Sunday.
“There’s a lot of trees that are being knocked over. We have live wires — it’s extremely volatile out there,” Miami-Dade police Maj. Hector Llevat said. “Right now, we’re just urging everybody to stay indoors, to seek shelter.”
Scott said his chief worry was the storm surges.
“It’s hard to believe anybody will survive that,” he said on TODAY.
Photos: Hurricane Irma Carves Path of Destruction in Caribbean
Scott said he would not spare on resources to protect people. “We’re going to take care of everybody,” he said.
Scott said Saturday that Florida had been aggressive in its preparations, with more than 385 shelters open.
President Donald Trump, who declared a major disaster in the state on Sunday, monitored progress from the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Returning to the White House, he said the response to the crisis has “been going really well.”
“The bad news is this is a monster,” he told reporters on the South Lawn. “I hope there aren’t too many people in the path. That’s a bad path to be in.”
States north of Florida prepared for Irma’s arrival, with Georgia telling 540,000 residents to leave the coast and South Carolina ordering nearly 45,000 people to evacuate.
Hurricane Irma has already killed at least 23 people after smashing through a string of Caribbean islands last week, including Barbuda, St. Martin, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where 1 million people were left without electricity.
Kalhan Rosenblatt reported from Plantation, Florida. Saphora Smith reported from London. Corky Siemaszko reported from New York.