Irma - live updates: At least three dead in Florida as storm heads north
Officials order people to flee historic storm, which has killed at least 36 people as it devastated parts of the Caribbean
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Your support makes all the difference.Hurricane Irma has pummeled Florida from coast-to-coast with winds up to 130mph, flooding homes and boats, knocking out power to millions of people and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.
The 400-mile-wide (640-kilometer-wide) storm blew ashore in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then marched up its western coast, its punishing winds extending clear across to Miami and West Palm Beach on the Atlantic side.
Irma, which has killed at least 28 people after pushing through the Caribbean, was considered a life-threatening danger in Florida as well, and could inflict a natural disaster causing billions of dollars in damage to the third-most-populous US state.
While Irma raked Florida's Gulf Coast, forecasters warned that the entire state was in danger because of the sheer size of the storm.
In one of the largest US evacuations, nearly seven million people in the Southeast were warned to seek shelter elsewhere, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.
Residents and holidaymakers were ordered to stay indoors until the storm had passed, with many Brits left holed up in apartments or hotel rooms.
About 30,000 people heeded orders to leave the Keys as the storm closed in, but an untold number refused, in part because, to many storm-hardened residents, staying behind in the face of danger is a point of pride.
fter leaving Florida, a weakened Irma is expected to push into Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and beyond. A tropical storm warning was issued for the first time ever in Atlanta, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the sea.
President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration for Florida, opening the way for federal aid.
Authorities have reported the first Irma-related death in Georgia as it moves up into the state. More as we get it
From AP:
"Georgia officials say at least one person has been killed by Tropical Storm Irma.
Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Catherine Howden said Monday that one storm-related death has been confirmed in Worth County, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) south of Atlanta. She had no further details.
The county is located in southwest Georgia, where Irma’s center was churning northwestward toward Alabama on Monday afternoon. With tropical storm winds extending more than 400 miles (640 kilometers) from its center, Irma has caused damage across the state from trees falling on inland homes to flooding in neighborhoods on the Georgia coast.
The storm has also been blamed for one death in Florida. At least 36 people died in the storm’s wake across the Caribbean."
Officials are reporting a second death in Georgia related to Tropical Storm Irma.
Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Catherine Howden said the death was confirmed Monday in Sandy Springs, north of Atlanta, according to the AP
Irma has now slowed to 50 mph and is over south west Georgia, as it heads for Alabama
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