Hurricane Jose weakens some but remains unsafe Category 4 storm

Irma crossed into southwest Georgia on Monday afternoon, bringing its risky winds and rain deeper inland after beating a deadly path up Florida's west coast.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee has issued a HURRICANE WARNING for most of the Big Bend and South Georgia. A total of some 9 million people in Florida may lose power, some for weeks, the Florida Power & Light Co said.

This southwest Florida island was the second place Hurricane Irma made landfall, striking Sunday afternoon as a Category 3 storm. Matthew did not come on shore and damage infrastructure, and it took the utility about two days to restore power. Irma will act like a giant buzzsaw as it plows up the state's west coast into Monday, battering cities such as Key West, Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota, and the Tampa-St.

Irma hit them as a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds near 130 miles per hour.

A weakened Irma - downgraded to a tropical depression Monday night - still packed power.

By Monday afternoon, more than 800,000 Georgia Power and EMC customers mostly in coastal and south Georgia were without power. From there, Irma is expected to push into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's going to be tough for us to get in to perform search and rescue in South Florida.

It is important to remember that Irma is a very large storm with significant impacts well away from the center: Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 415 miles.

"We are nervous about this", she said.

Severe flooding was reported in many other cities and towns along Florida's Gulf of Mexico coastline.

Roommates Zack Forrest and Krock Indigo rode out the storm on the island and likened Irma to a relentless tornado.

Tutu implores 'beloved sister' Daw Suu to end violence in Rakhine
Earlier this week, Bangladesh lodged a protest after it said Myanmar had laid landmines near the border between the two countries. An army-backed party won seats in areas where a sizeable number of white card holders were living.

Residents of the Miami area and the Florida Keys streamed north in packed vehicles Friday, anxiously rushing to dodge Hurricane Irma as the deadly storm took aim at the state after devastating the Caribbean.

"We don't have a comprehensive insight into what the damage is", Bryan Koon, Florida director of Emergency Management said late Sunday.

"Each state has a state-backed guarantee corporation which can help these smaller insurance companies survive natural disasters - which is the lesson we learned with Hurricane Andrew in the 1990s", Weber said. I just hope everybody has evacuated and gotten to safety.

"Now we're looking at hurricane-force winds in excess of 79 miles per hour", Dukes said. So power outages are still possible in SC.

On Monday, Cuban state TV announced 10 hurricane related deaths - meaning Irma killed a total of 36 people in the Caribbean before heading to the US. Those ramps have been closed in both directions."FHP says traffic's starting to build up on 95 and the Turnpike southbound". In the Tampa Bay area, Scott said the storm surge could be between 5 feet (1.5 meters) and 8 feet (2 meters).

Florida and Georgia officials have encouraged six million people to evacuate before the storm hits.

Not over yet: Residents near rivers will start to see flooding as the days go on, Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill said. The damage in Florida totaled $26 billion, and at least 40 people died. Roads were blocked, and witnesses said a provincial museum near the eye of the storm was in ruins. It could rival any storm in Florida's history, Governor Rick Scott said.

The monster storm, which arrived in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, has toppled at least three constructions cranes - two over downtown Miami and one in Fort Lauderdale.

But on Saturday, all that changed when Irma's course shifted. The coast's almost 540,000 residents fled last October ahead of Hurricane Matthew, which caused an estimated $500 million in damage and killed three people.

Waves crash against the lighthouse after the passing of Hurricane Irma, in Havana, Cuba, September 10, 2017.