Irma climbs Florida's coast; 'dangerous' storm surges feared
(CNN)Editor's note: This is a developing story that is being constantly updated as the storm progresses. Also, follow our live updates here or watch unlimited CNN.
Powerful winds from Hurricane Irma whipped through southwest Florida on Sunday, downing power lines and leaving a trail of debris behind.
Forecasters warned people in the hurricane's path to prepare for "dangerous storm surges" and flash flooding.
Now a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, Hurricane Irma is about 50 miles east-northeast of Fort Myers, Florida, moving north at 14 mph.
Irma is already uprooting trees and turning streets into rivers.
And there's plenty more to come as the storm climbs the coast toward Tampa.
Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
An abandoned car sits in storm surge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Fallen trees block a parking lot in Fort Lauderdale on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Sailboats moored near Watson Island ride out the winds and waves on September 10 in Miami Beach.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Members of the Blinckman family use their personal devices while sheltering in a stairwell utility closet as Hurricane Irma goes over Key West on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Evacuees watch the weather from inside a shelter in Naples on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Heavy winds and rain from Hurricane Irma blow through Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A man records the gusty winds going through downtown Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A tree is toppled onto a pickup truck after being knocked down by the high winds in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Meteorologist Mike Seidel of the The Weather Channel fights fierce winds and flooded streets while reporting on the full effects of Hurricane Irma's strike in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Hotel guests eat breakfast by lamplight after the Courtyard Marriott was left without power in Fort Lauderdale on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A crane tower is seen after part of it collapsed from the winds of Hurricane Irma in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People sit in the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami as Hurricane Irma approaches Miami on Saturday, September 9. See Hurricane Irma's impact on the Caribbean
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral, Florida, on Sunday, September 10. Irma made its second landfall in the state Sunday afternoon on nearby Marco Island as a dangerous Category 3 storm.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A downed tree lies across Cape Coral Parkway on Sunday.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Vehicles are surrounded by water after Hurricane Irma passed through Naples, Florida, on Sunday.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A vehicle drives through a flooded street as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
An American flag is torn as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A sheriff's deputy walks through a shelter in Naples after the power went out on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A police officer walks over debris after a tornado touched down in Palm Bay, Florida, on September 10. The effects of Hurricane Irma are being felt across the state.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Yaya Lopez holds her fiance Howard Lopez while they sleep in a hallway at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida, on September 10. The school filled classrooms and hallways with evacuees.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Geoff Rutland, a local volunteer from Crossing Jordan Church, helps other residents get ice from a vending machine on September 10 in Tampa, Florida, where residents are fleeing the evacuation zones ahead of Hurricane Irma.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
PJ Pike checks on his boat and on one belonging to a friend. Both are sitting in mud at their moorings due to an unusually low tide as the effects of Hurricane Irma reached Fort Myers, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People walk past a building in Miami where the roof was blown off by Hurricane Irma on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
An abandoned car sits in storm surge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Fallen trees block a parking lot in Fort Lauderdale on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Sailboats moored near Watson Island ride out the winds and waves on September 10 in Miami Beach.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Members of the Blinckman family use their personal devices while sheltering in a stairwell utility closet as Hurricane Irma goes over Key West on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Evacuees watch the weather from inside a shelter in Naples on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Heavy winds and rain from Hurricane Irma blow through Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A man records the gusty winds going through downtown Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A tree is toppled onto a pickup truck after being knocked down by the high winds in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Meteorologist Mike Seidel of the The Weather Channel fights fierce winds and flooded streets while reporting on the full effects of Hurricane Irma's strike in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Hotel guests eat breakfast by lamplight after the Courtyard Marriott was left without power in Fort Lauderdale on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A crane tower is seen after part of it collapsed from the winds of Hurricane Irma in Miami on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People sit in the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in Miami as Hurricane Irma approaches Miami on Saturday, September 9. See Hurricane Irma's impact on the Caribbean
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral, Florida, on Sunday, September 10. Irma made its second landfall in the state Sunday afternoon on nearby Marco Island as a dangerous Category 3 storm.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A downed tree lies across Cape Coral Parkway on Sunday.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Vehicles are surrounded by water after Hurricane Irma passed through Naples, Florida, on Sunday.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A vehicle drives through a flooded street as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
An American flag is torn as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A sheriff's deputy walks through a shelter in Naples after the power went out on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
A police officer walks over debris after a tornado touched down in Palm Bay, Florida, on September 10. The effects of Hurricane Irma are being felt across the state.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Yaya Lopez holds her fiance Howard Lopez while they sleep in a hallway at John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida, on September 10. The school filled classrooms and hallways with evacuees.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
Geoff Rutland, a local volunteer from Crossing Jordan Church, helps other residents get ice from a vending machine on September 10 in Tampa, Florida, where residents are fleeing the evacuation zones ahead of Hurricane Irma.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
PJ Pike checks on his boat and on one belonging to a friend. Both are sitting in mud at their moorings due to an unusually low tide as the effects of Hurricane Irma reached Fort Myers, Florida, on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
People walk past a building in Miami where the roof was blown off by Hurricane Irma on September 10.
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Photos: Hurricane Irma roars into Florida
An abandoned car sits in storm surge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on September 10.
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"We're all hanging in there, ready to get out there to help others as soon as it's safe to do so," Marco Island Police Chief Al Schettino said as the storm hit his city on Sunday afternoon.
Hurricane Irma first made landfall in the Florida Keys on Sunday morning, then made landfall in the state again Sunday afternoon when it hit Marco Island.
The storm's impact was widespread. Even areas that didn't face a direct hit from Irma saw flooding and downed power lines. In Riviera Beach, on Florida's east coast, winds partially ripped roofs off two apartment buildings, forcing rescuers to evacuate about 50 people from the complex, the city's mayor said.
Expected to be even more dangerous than the powerful winds are the storm surges that threaten Florida's coastal cities.
"The threat of catastrophic storm surge flooding is highest along the southwest coast of Florida, where 10 to 15 feet of inundation above ground level is expected," the hurricane center said. "This is a life-threatening situation."
Full coverage
- Where is the storm now?
- Why storm surges are so dangerous
- Floridians share their Irma stories
- For some, power outages could last for weeks
- Florida's economy to take a major hit
- US military begins relief operations
- Photos: Irma roars into Florida
- What to do before and after the storm
Mass evacuations jammed highways heading north and created a severe gas shortage in parts of Florida days before Irma hit. But as the storm neared, some Floridians hunkered down rather than hitting the road.
"We didn't know if we'd have an opportunity to even get gas," Naples resident Gina Fischer said.
So instead, Fischer boarded up the windows of her north Naples home, scrawling a message for the impending storm: "Irma, go away!" Then she headed inland to a friend's house.
"We're going to go to an interior hallway to be safe. We'll wait until the noise is gone and until it's quiet enough for us to come out and it be OK," she told CNN on Sunday.
The latest developments:
-- Strong winds blowing from the northeast have pushed water out of shallow parts of bays and harbors in cities like Tampa and Port Charlotte, where the storm is expected to hit later Sunday night. "As soon as the wind shifts direction, the water will come back quickly and continue to move inland," CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said.
An ocean used to be here. Irma pushed the water out. 01:14
-- Police in North Miami Beach, Florida, said they'd used an armored personnel carrier to rescue a mother and her 4-month-old child from their flooded home.
-- Two tornadoes touched down in Brevard County, Florida, destroying mobile homes in their path, officials said. No injuries have been reported.
Why tornadoes are among a hurricane's potent threats
-- More than 3 million electric customers are without power across Florida, according to utility companies.
-- A storm surge warning wraps around the state, from Brevard County to Tampa Bay.
-- At least 26 deaths have been blamed on Irma in the Caribbean islands, where it hit before barreling toward Florida.
Miami faces Irma's wrath
Gusts topping 90 mph whipped Miami on Sunday, knocking out power to more than 750,000 customers in the Miami-Dade area.
Flying objects such as coconuts turned into dangerous projectiles. And at least two construction cranes partially collapsed. One swung vigorously over downtown Miami. Another dangled over the city's Edgewater neighborhood.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
