Irma battered southern and western Caribbean islands last week as a massive Category 5 storm before crossing Cuba and the Bahamas and then making landfall on Florida's west coast on Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Florida and the Caribbean dig out of Hurricane Irma's devastation and begin a slow and costly recovery
One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, Irma ripped through the Caribbean and Florida. Its damage is just starting to emerge.
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
As the storm finally left Florida on Monday and headed across Georgia, residents in the Sunshine State began assessing the havoc Irma wrecked amid flooded streets and lawns strewn with boats, mobile homes, cars, and debris.
Three people in Georgia, one person in South Carolina, and seven people in Florida have died in the storm, bringing the total death toll to at least 48 people. That number is expected to rise.
Overall, the destruction hasn't appeared to be as bad as officials feared, with Irma heading up the western coast of Florida instead of straight up the middle as it was forecast to on Thursday. But a Citi analyst still estimates that costs could top $50 billion in the US.
ADVERTISEMENT
Not as bad as Floridians feared
Many residents who evacuated Miami when forecasters predicted it would take a direct hit found themselves in the storm's path after the hurricane turned and headed for Tampa on the west coast.
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said more than 6.5 million Floridians had been ordered to evacuate, and by Sunday morning 114,000 people were seeking refuge in 500 shelters statewide.
While all Florida interstates were open by Monday afternoon, Scott urged residents to take their time returning home so that officials could perform search and rescue missions in the floodwaters and wind-whipped homes.
Many secondary roads were still full of downed power lines, trees, and other debris (if they weren't flooded) on Tuesday morning, and would take at least days to clear.
ADVERTISEMENT
To complicate matters, the gasoline supply in the state is dwindling and most grocery store shelves are wiped clean, since so many people rushed to get fuel and food before the storm, so even if residents return in the coming days, they may not have the supplies they need.
By Tuesday morning, over 5.5 million homes and businesses in Florida were still without power, with another 1.3 million power failures in Georgia, 250,000 in South Carolina, and about 150,000 in North Carolina. Most of Puerto Rico is still without power as well.
Power companies raced to restore electricity, repairing power lines toppled by Irma's winds. The US Environmental Protection Agency has waived pollution-control rules to allow utilities to burn whatever fuel they need to restore power. Pollution levels spiked after a similar decision was made after Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the Associated Press found.
In the Florida Keys, which suffered a direct blow from Irma at Category 4 strength, the roads and bridges were destroyed by the powerful storm surge when the storm's strong winds blew walls of water onto the chain of islands. Scott said Monday that residents could begin to return only when officials inspected and cleared the 42-bridge Overseas Highway, according to the AP.
Storm surge scoured out US-... @ Mike Theiss
ADVERTISEMENT
Many Florida cities, including Miami and Tampa, instated curfews overnight Sunday and Monday seeking to reduce looting.
In areas like Jacksonville, where floodwater reached waist-high, rescue workers scoured the still-swamped streets on Monday to pull people out.
Before the storm hit, Scott ordered all 7,000 members of Florida's National Guard to report for duty, and thousands more from other states were assisting with disaster response by Monday.
The National Guard's #Hurri... @ National Guard
President Donald Trump declared states of emergency in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands on Tuesday evening to free up federal resources to respond to the storm.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Senate passed a $15 billion aid package for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday, but it would need to allocate more funds for Irma since the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running dangerously low on money for disaster relief.
The US military deployed nine ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Florida Keys, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico to bring food, water, supplies, and support to the American territories in what the White House homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, called one of "the most powerful naval relief flotillas in recent memory."
Caribbean islands dont look the same
While many Americans focused on the devastation hitting home, several Caribbean islands were reduced to "rubble."
Barbuda, a 62-square-mile isle in the Leeward Islands, was "totally demolished," said the nation's prime minister, Gaston Browne, wiping out 90% of structures. It could take $100 million to rebuild.
ADVERTISEMENT
Satellite images of the Virgin Islands before the storm showed lush greenery that was stripped of vegetation and turned brown after Irma swept through them with 185 mph winds:
Waves 16 feet high struck Cuba on Saturday, forcing a million people to evacuate inland.
Across the Caribbean, Irma left thousands homeless and sent recovery costs skyrocketing into at least billions of dollars.
It will most likely take months, if not years, for areas to return to some sense of normalcy.
FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA
ADVERTISEMENT
Recommended articles
Congo is spending 22% of its scarce revenue on security - Minister
Another African country is set to get a Russian embassy
Medic West Africa 2024: A resounding success in fostering collaboration and innovation for a brighter healthcare future
10 African countries with the most troubling external debt in 2024
10 African countries with the least soft power influence over the world
Kenyan government rejects calls to ban TikTok, recommends tighter control over
Congo accuses Apple of conflict minerals in its supply chain
Top 10 African countries with the highest fuel prices in April 2024
