Irma slowly turns to Florida; Key West feels hurricane-force winds
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Hurricane Irma
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EAST NAPLES, FL - SEPTEMBER 11: The Sunrise Motel remains flooded after Hurricane Irma hit the area on September 11, 2017 in East Naples, Florida. Yesterday Hurricane Irma hit Florida's west coast leaving widespread damage and flooding. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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The first hurricane-force winds reach Key West, Florida
Irma is expected to strengthen as it nears Florida
CNN
—
Time is running out to evacuate and prepare for Hurricane Irma, officials warned Saturday night as violent winds and rains from the Category 3 storm began pounding the southern tip of Florida.
Irma’s powerful winds and outer rain bands lashed the Florida Keys on Saturday as the massive storm slowly began turning from Cuba’s northern coast up into the Florida Strait, the National Hurricane Center said.
Winds of 74 mph – hurricane force – reached Key West late Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
With maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, Irma is expected to strengthen once it moves away from Cuba, with the possibility of hitting the US mainland as a Category 4.
Irma’s eye is expected to be cross the lower Florida Keys on Sunday morning before driving up the state’s west coast in the afternoon, according to the hurricane center. Almost the entire state is under hurricane warning with concerns of devastating gales, heavy rain and life-threatening storm surge.
At least 36 million people were under hurricane warning Saturday night, the center said.
As Irma drew closer to the third most populous state, officials warned the 6.5 million Floridians under mandatory evacuation orders that they were down to their last hours to make a decision.
“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now. This is your last chance to make a good decision,” said Florida Gov. Rick Scott at a news briefing Saturday evening.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long was even more blunt when asked about people who didn’t heed evacuation orders in the Keys.
“If you didn’t evacuate the Keys, you’re on your own until we can actually get in there and it’s safe,” he told CNN Saturday. “The message has been clear: The Keys are going to be impacted. There is no safe area within the Keys. And you put your life in your own hands by not evacuating.”
The National Hurricane Center warned that preparations had be complete in southwest Florida in a matter of hours on Saturday evening.
The storm is massive as winds of at least tropical storm force covered 70,000 square miles – larger than Florida’s entire land area. Worsening conditions spawned tornado warnings in the Keys and northeastern Broward County, and knocked power for 168,000 residents in South Florida.
The major concern among officials was the storm surge, which is like a sustained high tide that can cause devastating flooding, warning that it could reach as high as 15 feet in some areas. A storm surge warning is in place for the Florida Keys, Tampa Bay, and an extensive stretch of coastline wrapping most of the way around the state. At 11 p.m. ET Saturday it was extended as far west as the Ochlockonee River.
“You can’t survive these storm surges,” Scott told CNN Saturday evening. “You’ve got to get out. You’ve got to evacuate. This storm is coming. Once the storm’s here, we can’t evacuate anybody.”
Irma hit Cuba’s Ciego de Avila province late Friday as a Category 5 hurricane before it weakened. The storm’s violent gusts destroyed the instrument used to measure wind strength, Cuba’s meteorological agency reported. Waves as high as 23 feet were recorded, and bigger ones remained a possibility as Irma plodded west, officials said.
Here are the latest developments:
– Irma’s center was 90 miles southeast of Key West at 11 p.m. ET Saturday and moving northwest at a relatively slow 6 mph.
– Its forecast track had moved slightly westward meaning the storm was expected to move up Florida’s west coast Sunday.
– Hurricane warnings were extended north along Florida’s west coast as far as Perry, and along the eastern coast to include Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville. A storm surge warning wraps around the state, from Brevard County to Tampa Bay.
– More than 72,000 people have moved into more than 390 shelters across the state, according to a statement from the governor’s office Saturday evening.
– President Donald Trump tweeted that people should heed the advice of Florida’s governor Saturday night.
– As Irma barrels toward Florida, as many as 26 million people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba could be exposed to destructive winds and torrential rain, the Red Cross said, with 1.2 million people already battered by the storm. Hurricane warnings were still in effect Saturday for parts of central Cuba.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Carmelo Mota, a builder, searches for tools in his destroyed home in Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands, on Monday, September 18. Hurricane Irma devastated the US territory and other Caribbean islands in the region, leaving them exposed to new storms brewing in the Atlantic.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Joel Rouse/MOD/ROYAL NAVY/EPA
An aerial photo shows the devastation in Road Town, the capital of Tortola, the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, on Wednesday, September 13.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Andrew Parsons/Cal Sport Media/Zuma Press
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks to a resident of Anguilla during a visit on September 13.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
People collect food that was delivered by emergency workers in the Sandy Ground area of Marigot, St. Martin, on Tuesday, September 12.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
CHRISTOPHE ENA/AFP/Getty Images
Buildings are destroyed in St. Martin on September 12.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
CHRISTOPHE ENA/AFP/Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with St. Martin residents during a visit to the island on September 12.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
French soldiers patrol St. Martin on September 12.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
A person works to clean up a street September 12 after Hurricane Irma flooded parts of Havana, Cuba.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
A man makes repairs in Havana on September 12.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Jose Jimenez/Getty Images
This Marigot church was among the buildings destroyed in the storm.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Cubans affected by Hurricane Irma line up to collect drinking water in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba, on Monday, September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
VINCENT JANNINK/AFP/Getty Images
Dutch King Willem-Alexander, front right, tours damage in St. Maarten on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Aurelien Morissard/IP3/Getty Images
A palm tree sticks out of a pool on the French side of St. Martin on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Ramon Espinosa/AP
A woman stands next to her water-logged belongings that had been laid out to dry in front of her home in Isabela de Sagua on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Aurelien Morissard/IP3/Getty Images
People line up for supplies in St. Martin on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Jose Jimenez/Getty Images
The skeleton of a boat drifts in St. Martin's Simpson Bay on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People salvage material from the remains of a house in Isabela de Sagua on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Joel Rouse/MOD/AP
Members of the British Army provide support on Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Carlos Giusti/AP
A woman carries a dog at an airport checkpoint in St. Martin on September 11.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
People wade through a flooded street as a wave crashes in Havana on Sunday, September 10.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
Two men search through the rubble of their St. Martin restaurant on September 10.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
People make their way through debris in the Cojimar neighborhood of Havana on September 10.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
People board a plane leaving St. Martin on September 10.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
A man wades through a flooded street in Havana on September 10.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
An overview of Havana shows flooded streets on Saturday, September 9.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images
A woman surveys flooding in Havana on September 9.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
A boat rests in a cemetery after Irma tore through Marigot, St. Martin.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images
Residents return home after Irma passed through Caibarien, Cuba, on September 9.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks in Caibarien on September 9.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
A man carries a child through a flooded street in Fort-Liberte, Haiti, on Friday, September 8.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks on a St. Martin street covered in debris on September 8.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Carlos Giusti/AP
A damaged home is tilted onto its side on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra on Thursday, September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Tatiana Fernandez/AP
A home is surrounded by debris in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
LIONEL CHAMOISEAU/AFP/Getty Images
Irma damage is seen in St. Martin's Orient Bay on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Tatiana Fernandez/AP
Employees from an electrical company work to clear a fallen tree in Sanchez, Dominican Republic.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP/Getty Images
A woman makes her way through debris in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Ian Brown/AP
In this image made from video, damaged houses are seen in St. Thomas on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Anika E. Kentish/AP
The storm left widespread destruction on the island of Barbuda on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Tatiana Fernandez/AP
A flattened home is seen in Nagua, Dominican Republic, on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Tatiana Fernandez/AP
Nagua residents ride through an area affected by the storm on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images
Trash and debris is washed ashore in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
People walk through damage in Marigot, St. Martin, on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
People survey damage in Marigot on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Courtesy David Velez
Bluebeard's Castle, a resort in St. Thomas, was hit hard by Irma. St. Thomas resident David Velez sent this photo to CNN on September 7.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Courtesy David Velez
Irma ruined these vehicles in St. Thomas.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Gerben Van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry/Associated Press
Waves smash into St. Martin on Wednesday, September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Garson Kelsick via AP
A man looks at a vehicle turned upside down in the British territory of Anguilla.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Gerben Van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry/Associated Press
An aerial view of St. Martin on September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
Damaged cars are seen on a St. Martin beach on September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
A boat is washed onto shore in St. Martin.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
Cars are piled up in Marigot on September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
A man walks past damaged buildings in St. Martin on September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
A car is flipped onto its side in Marigot.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
Broken palm trees are scattered on a Marigot beach on September 6.
Photos: Hurricane Irma tears through Caribbean
Lionel Chamoiseau/AFP/Getty Images
Irma floods a beach in Marigot on September 6.
Nervous Florida waits
– Of the 24 deaths blamed on Irma, nine were in unspecified French territories, one in Barbuda, one in the British overseas territory of Anguilla, two in Dutch-administered St. Maarten, four in the British Virgin Islands, four in the US Virgin Islands and three in Puerto Rico.
Florida cities such as Naples, Sarasota, and Tampa are in or near the forecast path of the storm’s eye.
“It’s not a question of whether Florida is going to be impacted – it’s a question of how bad Florida is going to be impacted,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said, urging people to heed evacuation orders.
Florida Power and Light estimated that 3.4 million of its customers could be without power at some point during Irma, which would make it largest number of outages they have ever had to deal with in history, company spokesman Chris McGrath told CNN Saturday.
“We think this could be the most challenging restoration in the history of the US,” he said.
Miami began feeling some of Irma’s winds Saturday, with high-rise construction cranes sent spinning in circles.
As much as 20 inches of rain was predicted through Wednesday across the Florida peninsula and southeast Georgia, and maximum wind gusts above 100 mph are expected in much of western Florida.
Officials in other states also were preparing Saturday for Irma. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued a mandatory evacuation for some barrier islands, while Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal expanded the state of emergency to include 94 counties. Schools throughout Georgia, including the University of Georgia, planned to close Monday.
FEMA warned Alabama and North Carolina also to be on watch.
Are you affected by Irma? Text, iMessage or WhatsApp your videos, photos and stories to CNN: +1 347-322-0415.
CNN’s Chris Boyette, Steve Almasy, Faith Karimi, Taylor Ward, Dave Hennen, Judson Jones, Eric Fiegel, Cheri Mossburg, Tony Marco, Joe Sutton, Dakin Andone, Rene Marsh, Sasha Zients, Melissa Gray, Jason Hanna, Joseph Netto, Alba Prifti, Marilia Brocchetto, Rosa Flores and Paul Murphy contributed to this report.