Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Overnight open thread for Irma watchers.
Here’s the latest:
Hurricane Irma churned toward Florida on Saturday, leaving a trail of death and destruction across the Caribbean and prompting one of the largest emergency evacuations in American history. The National Hurricane Center said on Saturday evening the eye of Irma was beginning to slowly move away from the coast of Cuba as it moved northwest toward Florida.
As of 7 p.m. Saturday, the center said the core of Irma would reach the Florida Keys on Sunday, with “major hurricane force winds” expected at daybreak. The storm was expected to move along or near the southwest coast of Florida by Sunday afternoon.
The westward track, which was a change from earlier expectations, left some residents and officials scrambling to find shelter. The hurricane was downgraded to Category 3 on Saturday but still had winds of 125 miles per hour, the center said. It was expected to strengthen again over Florida.
About 6.3 million people in the state have been ordered to leave their homes. Storm surges will threaten Florida’s west coast on Sunday, where more than 3 million people live, and entire neighborhoods stretching northward from Naples to Tampa Bay could be submerged.
The first video below allows you to toggle between multiple cams in various Key West locations. Below that is live reporting from CNN, ABC, and the Washington Post.