Hurricane Irma pounded southern Florida on Saturday as emergency officials warned of ‘life threatening’ 15ft storm surges and tornadoes and told those who have so far ignored evacuation orders that it is too late.
The National Hurricane Center said in its latest update at midnight that Irma’s projected path continued to shift to the west, just a few crucial miles, which should keep its eye just off Florida’s west coast on a track to hit St. Petersburg, not Miami or even Tampa.
Forecasts predict Irma will first make landfall over Key West at about 7am on Sunday.
Irma’s outer bands pummeled Miami and parts of southeast Florida on Saturday afternoon. Two tornadoes hit Broward County after the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch.
There is also a deadly threat of 15ft storm surges with residents being urged not to return home given the enormous outer bands.
‘Fifteen feet is devastating and will cover your house,’ governor Rick Scott said on Saturday. ‘Do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. The storm surge will rush in and it could kill you.’
The National Weather Service had earlier warned that tornadoes were commonly spawned by a hurricane and could could damage far away from the center of the hurricane, while storm surges could cause more fatalities than any other hurricane hazard.
The latest update from the National Weather service indicated there were wind gusts ‘near hurricane strength’ – about 79mph – recorded in the Florida Keys. As of 12am, Irma was just 80 miles miles southeast of Key West and had sustained winds of 120mph.
Scroll down for video
Two tornadoes hit Broward County after the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch on Saturday afternoon. Pictured above is a tornado on Fort Lauderdale Beach
There were gusty winds in Miami early on Saturday morning but they were feeble in comparison to the 130mph winds expected in regions which will be hit directly
Thousands took shelter at the Germain Arena in Estero, Florida on Saturday night as Irma inched closer to the state
6.3million people have been told to evacuate in anticipation of Irma and there are 70,000 people in evacuation shelters across Florida. The state said Saturday that more than 400 shelters are open, mostly in schools, churches and community centers.
Time is running out for anyone who is now planning to leave, with the outer bands of Irma arriving in parts of southern Florida with heavy rain and strong wind gusts which make it impossible to drive.
An overnight curfew has been imposed in Miami to stop opportunistic looters taking advantage of the countless coastal homes which now stand abandoned. The city was on course for a direct hit but it was thrown a sudden lifeline on Saturday when the Category 3 storm changed course as it pounded Cuba.
On Saturday, Florida’s Governor Rick Scott warned bleakly: ‘You will not survive the storm. If you are in an evacuation zone, leave.’
Brock Long, the chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned residents in the Florida Keys who have not heeded warnings: ‘You’re on your own until we can actually get in there, and it’s safe for our teams to support local and state efforts.’
More than 200,000 homes and businesses in Florida have lost power already. Florida Power and Light said on its website that more than half of those outages were in the Miami-Dade area, where about 600,000 people have been ordered to evacuate.
Residents in the Keys have been warned for days that they must pack up and leave before Irma hits. Some defiantly stayed, vowing to ride out the storm despite the warnings that the decision may cost them their lives.
‘The message has been clear – the Keys are going to be impacted, there is no safe area within the Keys, and you put your life in your own hands by not evacuating,’ Long told CNN.
The entire Florida Keys were supposed to be emptied and firefighters went door to door in mobile home parks, urging residents to get out. People who refused to evacuate were not being arrested, but were told they wouldn’t be rescued once the storm arrives.
‘You can call, but we’re not coming,’ Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said.