Hurricane Irma, a massive storm which slammed into and devastated Caribbean islands in recent days, is all but certain to collide with southern Florida, Bloomberg reports.
Mandatory evacuations were issued for the Florida Keys and around 650,000 people in the Miami area were told to leave as well. The Miami-Dade County evacuation, according to Bloomberg, is the largest evacuation ever attempted in the country.
Irma could become the most expensive storm in U.S. history. The storm, as of this afternoon, has top winds of 155 miles an hour and forecasts indicate most of Florida will receive hurricane-force winds as the storm moves through the state and into Georgia. Irma was downgraded to a Category 4, but will likely maintain strength until it makes landfall on south Florida Sunday.
The storm has ravaged islands in the Caribbean, leaving at least 21 people dead, thousands stranded and at least $200 billion in building damages.
“Much of Florida, especially the southern half, is in for a really long and horrible day on Sunday,” Todd Crawford, lead meteorologist at The Weather Company in Andover, Massachusetts, tells Bloomberg. “It’s another example of the power of nature on a heavily populated part of the U.S. coastline is imminent, and the costs will be great.”
