Around 2 a.m. eastern time, Hurricane Irma’s eye made landfall just east of Key West, Florida, whipping the islands with 125 mile per hour winds and a storm surge that looked to be around four to six feet.
The massive category 4 storm, which measures a terrifying 400 miles across at its widest point, is now creeping up Florida’s west coast toward Tampa. The track is a marked change from what weathermen had predicted — up until Friday evening, the storm was supposed to wallop Miami and the Atlantic coast, not the Gulf Coast — and meant that many on Florida’s western shore were left scrambling for shelter.
As of Sunday morning, more than 600,000 Floridians are without power and 29,000 of those are in the Florida Keys. Reporters riding out the storm on the small chain of islands just off Florida’s tip captured amazing footage as the storm blew in Saturday night.
By late Saturday, the storm surge had already begun, in one case wiping out a tourist trying to take a photo at the “Southernmost Point” marker in Key West.
Key West: Come for the selfies, stay for the Darwinism. #HurricaineIrma pic.twitter.com/fHg7feEN7X
— David Poller (@PollerPhoto) September 9, 2017
Surge coming up ! #KeyWest #irma pic.twitter.com/iQBGH7yrif
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 10, 2017
But the storm quickly got serious, moving from knocking down photographers to pushing in on Key West homes.
The storm surge in Key West right now is crazy ?? #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/Ywp4TDW2wA
— jimmy ? (@JimmyLevyMusic) September 9, 2017
Sailboats broke free and floating away !! I hope no one was in those sailboats. #KeyWest #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/8PE6Zg4dCx
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 9, 2017
The wind threatened cell phone service as it reached more than 130 miles per hour in gusts.
Eyewall and Storm Surge !! #HurricaneIrma #KeyWest pic.twitter.com/jI9kItZWqJ
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 10, 2017
Rough conditions north side of #KeyWest from #Irma. Our building is strong. Still no power. pic.twitter.com/8U1ULokmfJ
— NAS Key West (@NASKeyWest) September 10, 2017
RT JimCantore: From chefdistilled Paul Menta of Key West First Legal Rum
Incredible as they take the eyewall #Irma… pic.twitter.com/AsUNlZKXtz— Zachary's Weather (@ZacharysWeather) September 10, 2017
Across the state, in Miami, the normally raucous South Beach was slammed by wind and rain.
Intense wind and rain on Miami Beach. Trees down. #HurricaneIrma is here — and we're not even getting the eye. Wind hasn't let up. @wsvn pic.twitter.com/qsEmE6FAGi
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) September 10, 2017
Taking the brunt of #Irma in Miami with hurricane force wind gusts. We're live on @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/Bin66eMhDr
— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) September 10, 2017
The eye of the storm is now headed for mainland Florida. It is expected to make landfall there sometime before 2 p.m.
Source: The Daily Wire
