Aircraft carrier, Navy ships headed to Florida Keys after Irma left ‘devastation’

Hurricane Irma on Monday weakened to a Category 1 storm with top sustained winds of 120km/h battering Florida with continued hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and risky storm surges, leaving almost six million without power.

Irma is now moving away from the coast of Cuba and is making landfall on the Florida Keys, which forms the southernmost portion of the state.

BOOKER: Like many areas in Florida, an overnight curfew has been put in place in Tallahassee. The islands were closed to the public Tuesday while damage is assessed, and several areas remain without water, power or communications, officials said.

Tropical Storm Irma continues to bear down on Columbus and the Valley, with sustained wind speeds of between 25 and 40 miles per hour and steady, driving rain expected to continue and likely worsen as the day continues.

Post-hurricane storm surge in the Florida Keys was limited and it remains unclear if two reported deaths there were storm-related.

It killed at least 26 people before leaving the Caribbean for Florida. “Everybody is working to get assets here”.

The first job rescue services will have to do is to test the integrity of the 42 bridges linking the Keys.

After making its way into Georgia, the storm is forecast to move into eastern Alabama on Tuesday morning. He said 19,500 electric workers have been deployed in the restoration effort. Florida Power and Light, or FPL, is the state’s largest utility.

In other parts of the state as of Sunday night, like Tampa, residents had yet to see the worst that Irma could offer. The storm damaged power lines and some building cranes. We’ll keep showers around at times Wednesday and Thursday morning.

On the west coast of Florida, drone footage from Naples, a town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico about 200km to the north-west, shows rows of shattered suburban homes on streets under water. “President Trump has promised me all the federal resource I need”, Scott said of the devastation. Residents on the islands were told to evacuate before the storm struck, but not everyone followed the orders.

Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County police announced the arrest of 28 people for robbery and looting.

Hurricane Jose is now looping around the Atlantic, about 400 miles north-northeast of Grand Turk Island.