After several hours at sea, Hurricane Irma slammed into Marco Island and Naples, Florida.
The storm, which hit Key West early Sunday morning as a category 4 and left as a category 3, gained back speed as it moved across the Gulf. When the 400 mile-wide hurricane made landfall again Sunday afternoon, wind speeds were at 130 miles per hour. After several hours on land, the storm is now a category 2.
Irma has already claimed at least three lives in the United States, adding to the 50-person death toll the storm has caused across the Carribbean. More than half a million people are without power, and parts of the Florida Keys are now inaccessible. Key West saw torrential rains and a storm surge of nearly ten feet.
Social media users captured terrifying video as Irma’s eyewall made its second American landfall in Marco Island:
And in nearby Naples.
Very intense in #Naples right now. #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/L9a20BuKDB
— Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) September 10, 2017
Full-on in #Naples #hurricaneirma pic.twitter.com/ymCAI7vunF
— Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) September 10, 2017
The National Weather Service now says that Irma is a category 2, and wind speeds will continue to fall, but not before the storm reaches Tampa this evening, where it is expected to do significant damage. Irma has also spun off several tornadoes, and areas already under a hurricane warning, like Port St. Lucie, are now also under a tornado warning.
Source: The Daily Wire
