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More than 5 million people in Florida under Irma’s evacuation order

Florida authorities today ordered the evacuation of 5.6 million people across the state in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which is expected to “devastate” the southeastern United States.

According to Florida hurricane program manager Andrew Sussman, about 5.6 million people have received an evacuation order due to the deadly hazards of Irma, a Category 5 hurricane whose expected effects are felt throughout the country. state.

“Not tonight, not in an hour.Now,” Governor Rick Scott of the capital, Tallahassee, said today about the urgency that people who have received an evacuation order leave their residences and go to shelters enabled throughout the state.

Scott ordered Thursday night to close all state colleges and universities so they could be available as shelters against Irma’s early effects, whose eye will reach South Florida Sunday morning.

Even so, many of the shelters in Miami-Dade County and neighboring Broward have closed their doors after reaching the maximum capacity Friday.

Miami-Dade County alone has issued an evacuation order for more than 650,000 people, the largest to date, according to the Miami Herald.

Between Thursday and Friday, northbound state highways have seen considerable traffic jams, in what is already an unprecedented exodus of residents and tourists visiting South Florida.

For its part, the Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), one of the state’s largest electricity suppliers, anticipates that at least 4.1 million customers will lose power as a result of the impact of hurricane Irma the Florida Keys.

The company anticipates “widespread damage” in the areas where it provides service in addition to a “significant impact on the most populated areas,” providing 13,500 workers in the state, especially in South Florida, to respond with as fast as possible, it said in a statement today.

FPL owns two nuclear plants, Turkey Point, located in Homestead, in the south of the state, as well as St Lucie, which will be closed “deliberately and gradually, well in advance of the appearance of hurricane force winds,” he said. the signature.

In accordance with federal mandates, the company has issued an “Unusual Event” statement to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to proceed with the phase-out of nuclear power plants.

“The Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear plants are two of the strongest structures in the world, with the main portions of the plants coated in a six-foot (1.8 meter) thick reinforced steel structure, the firm said.

According to Friday’s bulletins issued by the National Hurricane Center (CNH), projections indicate that Irma will move further to the west coast of the state, away from the greater population density of the Miami metropolitan area.

However, meteorologists and specialists emphasize the dimensions of the cyclone, whose hurricane force winds could cover both coasts of the state.

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