South Florida residents are hoping it will be done today to assess the damage caused by Irma, a “monster” hurricane, as President Donald Trump called it, which, although weakened, continues to shake part of the state on its way to the North.
Irma, who has caused at least 3 confirmed deaths in Florida and before about 30 in several Caribbean islands, has fallen to category 1, the lowest, and may be no longer a hurricane today, according to the National Hurricane Center. CNH).
ABC reported two more deaths that would bring to five the fatalities of this hurricane, all of them produced in car accidents due to the adverse climatic conditions that it has caused.
Rain, wind, floods, tornadoes and storm surges are some of Irma’s effects, leaving nearly 4 million households, businesses and public offices without electricity.
Millions of people have been displaced from their places of residence on their own will or by the 6.3 million evacuation orders issued by Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
In the shelters of Miami, a city that suffered Sunday floods and falls of cranes and roofs and other architectural elements, some people were preparing today to abandon them, although they can only do so if the authorities give them permission.
The Florida Keys, a group of islands and islets located between the peninsula and the north of Cuba, seems to be the place where according to the first information the material damages are more important and where there may be more fatalities.
Authorities in the area announced today that they will check house by house as they are and that a cargo of emergency goods will arrive at Key West Airport on Monday in a military aircraft.
In most major cities in South Florida, a night curfew is in place to prevent people from getting out of the country, such as looting, a crime that has resulted in a dozen detentions.
According to the website of the Florida Office of Disaster Management, which publishes an updated list of airports that are closed because of Irma, the most important ones, such as those in Miami, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Orlando, are either totally closed or without commercial activities.
Some are still open for emergency operations only.
Irma landed in the Florida Keys, the southeastern tip of the US, on Sunday, having passed through Cuba and other Caribbean countries as a major hurricane.
On Sunday he also landed hours later on Marco Island, on the southwest coast of Florida, and then continued northward, albeit weakened.
In its 5 pm ET bulletin, the National Hurricane Center (CNH) indicated that Hurricane Irma continues to weaken in its northward advance along the southwest coast of Florida and today may lose the category of hurricane and become tropical storm.
The hurricane, which now has category 1, the lowest of the scale, has sustained maximum winds of 75 miles per hour, with some bursts of higher speed.
It was located 35 miles from Cedar Key and was moving at 18 mph (30 km / h) heading north-west.
This course is expected to continue until Tuesday.
The maximum sustained winds, currently at almost 75 mph, may still lose more speed and it is expected that Irma will turn into a tropical storm today and Tuesday morning as a tropical depression.
The CNH also warned of the danger of cyclonic tidal waves that can inundate areas near the coast that are usually dry.
At some points, this swell can raise sea levels between 2 and 6 feet.
In Tampa and the other settlements in the homonymous bay, which together have more than 3.5 million inhabitants, the “biggest nightmare”, as defined by Mayor Bob Buckhorn, is the storm surge.
The media today released photographs showing how, due to the floodwaters associated with Irma, the waters of Tampa Bay withdrew this Sunday and many people went for a walk in the water before conditions worsened.
