Hurricane Irma. Miami submerged, at least three dead in Florida
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
The passage of Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage in Florida. The depression has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. Three confirmed fatalities.
Hurricane Irma. Miami submerged, at least three dead in Florida
The passage of Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage in Florida. The depression has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. Three confirmed fatalities.
US President Donald Trump declared a state of natural disaster for Florida on Sunday, which will make it possible to release additional resources and financial means to help the peninsula devastated by the passage of Hurricane Irma. The winds blew, as forecast, with exceptional force across the American state, generating waves several metres high. The sea thus flooded the streets of Miami, as witnessed by numerous residents through social media.
The sea overtopped the flood barriers and flooded the Brickell neighbourhood
The Brickell neighbourhood in particular is submerged: the ocean level exceeded even the protective barriers and advanced hundreds of metres inland. A situation similar to that experienced a few hours earlier by Cuba, whose capital Havana suffered the same type of phenomenon.
Alex Wallace, a journalist with broadcaster The Weather Channel, posted two photographs on Twitter of 12th Street, a short distance from Brickell Avenue: before and after the disaster. The second image shows the asphalt covered by almost a metre of water.
Same street in Miami before #Irma compared to the current situation! An example of storm surge!
"$290 billion in damage linked to Harvey and Irma"
According to reports from US media, the authorities are now waiting for the water to recede before carrying out an initial damage assessment. That said, some estimates have already been put forward: private American weather service AccuWeather has put the total cost linked to the passage of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which struck in quick succession, at the record figure of 290 billion dollars. Numerous cranes were damaged or brought down, despite being designed to withstand winds of more than 200 kilometres per hour. Around three million people are currently without power, while the airport is not expected to reopen before tomorrow. Several municipalities in the area have also imposed a curfew in order to combat looting. A local television channel showed footage filmed in Fort Lauderdale, approximately fifty kilometres from Miami, in which groups of people can be seen stealing from shops.
#BREAKING Local 10 cameras catch looters breaking into stores in Fort Lauderdale during #Irma bit.ly/2fconJ6
The hurricane downgraded to a tropical storm
Meanwhile, the number of victims caused by the hurricane in the Caribbean has been revised upwards: the toll stands at 27 people. In Florida, the confirmed death toll currently stands at three. The hurricane first made landfall in the Florida Keys, then crossed the American state through Lakeland (east of Tampa) and continued northwards. The depression was subsequently downgraded first to category 2, then — this morning — to category 1 (tropical storm), and is now approaching southern Georgia.