Hurricane Irma: Evacuations Underway From Florida To The Carolinas

Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Atlantic storm on record, continued its relentless march Thursday toward Florida as millions of people in its path secured houses, moved property to safer areas and joined tens of thousands of other residents clogging highways and jamming airports in a massive evacuation underway across the state and into coastal Georgia.

Federal, state and local government and emergency management officials were preparing for a massive assault that they warned could prove more destructive than Hurricane Andrew when it arrives on Sunday.

In Georgia, mandatory evacuations begin Saturday for the Savannah area as Irma is expected to hit on Monday. On Thursday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal added 24 Georgia counties to the six on the coast that were already under a state of emergency, and Georgians were urged to prepare for strong winds, rain and flooding. Deal also authorized up to 5,000 Georgia National Guard members to be on state active duty to support Hurricane Irma response and recovery.

North Carolina joined South Carolina under states of emergency.

"This thing is bigger than our entire state," Florida Gov. Rick Scott warned during a press conference on Thursday. "Take this thing seriously." He waived tolls on all highways and told people if they were thinking about leaving to "get out now." He warned that Irma is "bigger, faster and stronger" than Hurricane Andrew, the last Category 5 storm to hit the state.

And, as the United States continued to clean up the mess left by Hurricane Harvey a week ago and prepared for a wicked landfall by Irma, the National Hurricane warned of a new threat, updating Hurricane Jose to a Category 3 storm. Jose, which has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, is directly following Irma and heading for Antigua and Barbuda, which suffered devastating hits from Irma that killed at least 10 people Wednesday.

Governor Scott: Irma Much Worse Than Hurricane Andrew

President Trump, during a briefing Thursday afternoon, said that the administration is "very concerned" about Hurricane Irma as it heads toward Florida. He also commended the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its preparations for Irma as well as the agency's response to Hurricane Harvey. "We're as well prepared as you can be for something like this," Trump said.

The president also declared a state of emergency in South Carolina, triggering federal aid money for relief programs in all 46 counties and the Catawba Indian Nation inside the state.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, the eye of Hurricane Irma was moving west-northwest off the Dominican Republic's northern coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm had top sustained winds near 175 mph and was expected to continue moving between Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos in the afternoon hours, on a course taking it to the southeastern Bahamas on Thursday evening. Hurricane-force winds have extended some 70 miles from the eye of the storm with tropical storm-force winds blowing 185 miles from the eye.

When Irma hits Florida, the National Weather Service projects that southeast Florida and the upper Florida Keys will get 8-12 inches of rainfall, with isolated areas of up to 20 inches of rain.

In Miami-Dade County, Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered the evacuation of more than 100,000 people in beach communities and flood-prone areas, effective Thursday. He said at a briefing, "This storm doesn’t appear to be going anywhere." (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Tampa Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

In the Tampa Bay area, Pinellas County has issued a mandatory evacuation order for people in low-lying areas and mobile homes. The order goes into effect at 6 a.m. Friday. The county also has declared a local state of emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival in the Sunshine State. Residents there have been desperate for supplies that might help them survive the possible onslaught of Hurricane Irma, waiting in long lines for bottled water, gasoline and plywood as businesses ran out. Motorists lined Sheldon Road near the River Oaks Fire Station for more than a mile for the opportunity to fill sandbags.

In Tampa, residents should “prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Shiveley in an interview with Patch Thursday afternoon.

In the Keys, officials evacuated a hospital and planned to empty others along the chain of islands by the end of Thursday. Boats were tied down or taken out of the water. Elsewhere in Florida, NASA secured Kennedy Space Center for potentially catastrophic wind and rain but not before SpaceX, the private space contractor, launched an unmanned rocket in an experimental flight. Kennedy, meanwhile, has closed its doors to all nonessential staff; a crew of about 120 people will ride out the storm on site.

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Residents rushed out to home improvement stores across Florida seeking plywood, nails and other supplies. Among the more peculiar items, Pamela Stenftenagel, a department supervisor at a Home Depot near Westchase, said grills have been a top seller as customers seek other methods to cook meals. She said Home Depot has been diverting shipments from stores in other states to keep the Tampa store supplied with various items.

Dozens of gas stations were out of fuel Thursday. A BP on Sheldon Road was out of gas by Wednesday, said manager Michael Rizk. "The store ran out of bottled water on Tuesday. I bought 100 cases (of gallon jugs) and sold out in less than an hour,” he said.

Scott called on gas stations across Florida to remain open and offered police escorts for employees to ensure they are staffed. He also suggested that travelers utilize GasBuddy.com to find stations that are open and have gas. Scott warned that Miami-Dade County is likely to experience "major hurricane impacts" this weekend when Irma makes landfall in South Florida.

Scott also put a call out for an additional 17,000 volunteers to help before, during and after the storm. Residents who want to answer the call are asked to visit Volunteer Florida online.

Officials have good reason to call for help. The Weather Channel's Bryan Norcross told Patch Hurricane Irma has the potential to wreak more havoc than Hurricane Andrew did more than two decades ago.

"It could if the core of the hurricane — where the strongest winds are —comes over one or more big Florida cities," Norcross predicts. "You could have the Houston situation multiplied because you have so many people stranded in damage zones. ... It just really depends on where the worst of the wind goes and we just can’t tell that right now."

If people had any doubts about the potential devastation Irma might cause in Florida, they need only look to the Caribbean, where the death toll was up to at least 10, according to ABC News. At least eight people had died in St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, along with others in Barbuda and Anguilla. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told France Info radio that the death toll on Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy could get higher when rescue teams finish their inspection of the islands.

"It's a tragedy, we'll need to rebuild both islands," he said. "Most of the schools have been destroyed." Collomb also said 100,000 food rations have been sent to the islands, the equivalent of four days of supplies.

In Puerto Rico, more than half of the U.S. territory was without power, leaving 900,000 in the dark and nearly 50,000 without water. Fourteen hospitals were using generators after losing power, and trees and light poles were strewn across roads.

President Trump on Thursday announced federal aid would be available for the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. John and St. Thomas. The aid can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans and other financial aid to help property owners recover from the storm.

And, although Irma had weakened slightly by late Thursday, it had set a record for sustained winds. According to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach, no other storm in recorded history has maintained top winds of 185 mph for 37 hours. That breaks the previous record, held by Typhoon Haiyan, which had similar top winds for 24 hours before it hit the Philippines and killed 6,000 people in 2013.

Watch: Deaths, Destruction Reported As Hurricane Irma Heads Toward Florida

Businesses and companies are also chipping in to help people escape the storm -- and even hunker down.

Internet provider Comcast is offering free WiFi to all Florida residents and emergency personnel to help them "stay connected" as the state braces for Hurricane Irma. More than 137,000 Xfinity WiFi hotspots throughout the state are open to anyone who needs them, including non-Xfinity customers, for free.

Miami International Airport will keep operating ahead of Hurricane Irma as long as possible, according to Miami-Dade officials. The airport, among the busiest in the United States, is to remain open until sustained winds reach 35 mph. Although there were reports earlier in the week of airlines increasing fares as Irma loomed, many responded Thursday by dropping their fares for trips out of the hurricane's path.

Watch: Massive Storm Seen From Space

But, as the vicious storm approaches, some federal authorities already are worrying about the aftermath – and who's going to pay for the damage. Florida's total number of federal flood insurance policies dropped by 15 percent over five years, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency figures. Across Florida, roughly 2.5 million homes are in hazard zones, more than three times that of any other state, FEMA estimated. But across Florida's 38 coastal counties, just 42 percent of these homes are covered.

See also:

• Hurricane Irma Threat Prompts Florida State Of Emergency
• Hurricane Irma: NFL Moves Bucs-Dolphins Opener To November
• Hurricane Irma: Sarasota County Schools Announce Plans
• Hurricane Irma: Pinellas County Schools Announce Plans
• Florida State University Moves Up Kickoff Time Vs. Louisiana-Monroe
• Miami Hurricanes Football: Game Vs. Arkansas State Canceled
• USF Sets Hurricane Irma Plans
• Airlines Charge Thousands To Fly Out Of Hurricane Irma Path In Florida

Patch's Paul Scicchitano and Don Johnson contributed to this story with reporting by the Associated Press.

Graphics courtesy of the National Hurricane Center

Photographs from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Florida by the Associated Press