Tampa Enacts Curfew As Irma Nears

TAMPA, FL — As Hurricane Irma batters south Florida on a course toward the Tampa Bay area, the city of Tampa has enacted a curfew.

The emergency curfew goes into effect at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 due to the weather. The curfew will remain in place until city officials have a chance to assess damage after the storm passes. (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.)

“The curfew prohibits individuals from traveling outside by car or on foot,” a Sunday afternoon email from the city said. “Tampa Police officers will be patrolling neighborhoods and will make contact with individuals who are outside during the curfew.”

Watch: Hurricane Irma Officially Arrives In Florida

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Hurricane Irma was bearing down on South Florida Sunday afternoon. The ferocious storm that tore through the Caribbean, leaving at least 20 people dead in its wake, has now been blamed for at least three deaths in Florida. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph as it moved north at 12 mph. Counties throughout the Tampa Bay area were under a tornado watch until early Monday morning.

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