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| Irma Live Updates: Most Homes in Florida Keys Are Damaged, Officials Say | Irma Live Updates: Most Homes in Florida Keys Are Damaged, Officials Say |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Irma’s effects were still stinging Florida on Tuesday, from the Keys in the south, where officials said 90 percent of houses had sustained damage, to Jacksonville in the north, where hundreds had been rescued from floodwaters. | Irma’s effects were still stinging Florida on Tuesday, from the Keys in the south, where officials said 90 percent of houses had sustained damage, to Jacksonville in the north, where hundreds had been rescued from floodwaters. |
| Restoring electricity service remained a priority for the state, with the Department of Homeland Security saying about 15 million people were without power in Florida on Tuesday morning. | Restoring electricity service remained a priority for the state, with the Department of Homeland Security saying about 15 million people were without power in Florida on Tuesday morning. |
| In the Florida Keys, an estimated 25 percent of homes were destroyed when Irma hit there as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, while another 65 percent suffered “major damage,” the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said at a news conference. “Basically every house in the Keys was impacted in some way or another,” he said. | |
| An aircraft carrier and other Navy ships were headed to the Keys, and parts of the chain were being reopened to residents from 7 a.m. “We’re going to do everything we can to help every individual in this state,” Gov. Rick Scott said. | An aircraft carrier and other Navy ships were headed to the Keys, and parts of the chain were being reopened to residents from 7 a.m. “We’re going to do everything we can to help every individual in this state,” Gov. Rick Scott said. |
| Here’s the latest: | Here’s the latest: |
| • At least 45 people have died as a result of the storm, including at least 10 in the continental United States, according to The Associated Press. | • At least 45 people have died as a result of the storm, including at least 10 in the continental United States, according to The Associated Press. |
| • The remnants of Irma, downgraded to a tropical depression on Monday night, are moving toward the Tennessee Valley. | |
| • President Emmanuel Macron of France arrived in the Caribbean on Tuesday to assess the damage to French territories battered by Hurricane Irma last week. | |
| • The authorities are assessing the full extent of the damage and have hesitated to estimate the cost of a cleanup. Check out our most powerful photographs. | • The authorities are assessing the full extent of the damage and have hesitated to estimate the cost of a cleanup. Check out our most powerful photographs. |
| • Sign up for the Morning Briefing for hurricane news and a daily look at what you need to know to begin your day. | • Sign up for the Morning Briefing for hurricane news and a daily look at what you need to know to begin your day. |
| Governor Scott said Tuesday that 30,000 people were working to resolve one of the state’s most urgent issues: turning the power back on. | |
| Florida officials said the outages were still affecting 5.5 million accounts, which Christopher Krebs, a Department of Homeland Security official, said would leave about 15 million people without power. | |
| The state had shifted to recovery and rebuilding efforts, Mr. Scott said, and the authorities were also working to get water and food to those who need it and to restore access to fuel. | |
| “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but everybody’s going to come together,” he said. “We’re going to get this state rebuilt.” | |
| In the Florida Keys, where the storm tore at nearly every home, repairs were needed on the electricity grid and sewage systems and bridges were being inspected for safety, he added. | |
| Mayor Lenny Curry of Jacksonville lifted the city’s mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday, but warned that “there are still road blockages, there is still serious flooding, so there is a possibility you may not be able to get back to your home. | Mayor Lenny Curry of Jacksonville lifted the city’s mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday, but warned that “there are still road blockages, there is still serious flooding, so there is a possibility you may not be able to get back to your home. |
| “But you’re welcome to come back,” he said at a Tuesday morning news conference. “Check your home out and see what’s going on here.” | “But you’re welcome to come back,” he said at a Tuesday morning news conference. “Check your home out and see what’s going on here.” |
| The city suffered a “trifecta” of water-related threats — storm surge, heavy rainfall over the weekend and Monday’s rising tides — city officials had said. | The city suffered a “trifecta” of water-related threats — storm surge, heavy rainfall over the weekend and Monday’s rising tides — city officials had said. |
| Monday was “rescue day,” he said, noting that the authorities there had rescued 356 people. “Today begins the cleaning and the rebuilding process,” he added. | Monday was “rescue day,” he said, noting that the authorities there had rescued 356 people. “Today begins the cleaning and the rebuilding process,” he added. |
| Jacksonville would begin distributing water on Tuesday morning, reopen city offices on Wednesday and begin collecting storm debris next Monday. “I will push my entire team aggressively to get this city back to normal as fast as possible,” Mr. Curry said. | |
| Governor Scott said the flooding had suprised residents and officials alike. “So many areas that you would never have thought have flooded, have flooded,” he said. | |
| High winds felled trees and severed service lines in Georgia and South Carolina on Monday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people in the two states. | High winds felled trees and severed service lines in Georgia and South Carolina on Monday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people in the two states. |
| A tropical storm warning was issued for all of Georgia’s coast and most of South Carolina’s. Some of the worst flooding occurred in Charleston, where knee-high floodwaters coursed through the streets — high enough for some residents to navigate by kayak. | A tropical storm warning was issued for all of Georgia’s coast and most of South Carolina’s. Some of the worst flooding occurred in Charleston, where knee-high floodwaters coursed through the streets — high enough for some residents to navigate by kayak. |
| The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for Charleston County and said that parts of the Charleston peninsula, which contains the city’s historic core, were being closed. | The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for Charleston County and said that parts of the Charleston peninsula, which contains the city’s historic core, were being closed. |
| In an interview Monday afternoon, Mayor John Tecklenburg said that the city had been hit with a four-foot storm surge, leaving parts of the peninsula looking as if they had merged with the Ashley River. | In an interview Monday afternoon, Mayor John Tecklenburg said that the city had been hit with a four-foot storm surge, leaving parts of the peninsula looking as if they had merged with the Ashley River. |
| “It sounds kind of counterintuitive that we’d have that, because the center of the storm is over 200 miles away in western Georgia, and here we are over on the coast of South Carolina,” he said. “But just if you looked at the bigger weather map and saw the counterclockwise rotation of Irma, juxtaposed with a clockwise high-pressure rotation over the Atlantic, Charleston was like in the pincer of those two motions that has driven wind and hurricane bands almost directly into our city.” | “It sounds kind of counterintuitive that we’d have that, because the center of the storm is over 200 miles away in western Georgia, and here we are over on the coast of South Carolina,” he said. “But just if you looked at the bigger weather map and saw the counterclockwise rotation of Irma, juxtaposed with a clockwise high-pressure rotation over the Atlantic, Charleston was like in the pincer of those two motions that has driven wind and hurricane bands almost directly into our city.” |
| Mr. Tecklenburg said that the flooding was even worse than last year’s Hurricane Matthew, which inundated the city in October, in great part because Matthew arrived at low tide, whereas Irma’s effect came at high tide. | Mr. Tecklenburg said that the flooding was even worse than last year’s Hurricane Matthew, which inundated the city in October, in great part because Matthew arrived at low tide, whereas Irma’s effect came at high tide. |
| Farther inland, concerns about serious damage remained high, even as the storm’s power diminished somewhat. | Farther inland, concerns about serious damage remained high, even as the storm’s power diminished somewhat. |
| In Atlanta, the winds whipping through the leaves created a sound like an angry sea breaking on a shoreline, and trees crashed into residences and onto roadways. The city’s public school system canceled classes through Tuesday, and Delta airlines, based in Atlanta, canceled about 900 flights Monday, noting a special concern about strong north-south crosswinds at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which bills itself as the busiest in the world. | In Atlanta, the winds whipping through the leaves created a sound like an angry sea breaking on a shoreline, and trees crashed into residences and onto roadways. The city’s public school system canceled classes through Tuesday, and Delta airlines, based in Atlanta, canceled about 900 flights Monday, noting a special concern about strong north-south crosswinds at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which bills itself as the busiest in the world. |
| St. Martin and St. Barthélemy, known for idyllic beaches that have long been a draw for tourists, were left devastated Irma tore across the islands. Roofs were torn from homes and power and water were knocked out on both islands. At least a dozen were killed as a result of the storm, according to The Associated Press. | |
| During a news briefing at the airport in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, President Macron vowed government support to rebuild the devastated islands where he planned to travel later in the day. | |
| “I am here with three government ministers to express firstly the solidarity of the international community following what happened after Hurricane Irma and to say that all of France stands side by side with those who lost everything, some even lost their loved ones,” Mr. Macron said. French relief operations are being coordinated from Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, which was spared the widespread destruction seen on other Caribbean islands. | |
| At least 1,900 members of the security forces have been deployed to St. Martin, where the rule of law disintegrated after the storm, as stranded residents struggled with food and water shortages. | |
| The military has since brought humanitarian aid by air, but the French Red Cross detailed how “major security problems” hampered the initial arrival of humanitarian aid to St. Martin. More aid workers were sent to the island on Tuesday, and a military ship was also expected to arrive on the island with additional supplies. | |
| “St. Martin will be reborn. I am committed,” Mr. Macron tweeted on Tuesday morning, shortly after arriving on the island. The destruction on that island alone is estimated at $1.43 billion, according to French tourism officials. Much of the island is still without power. | |
| The government of the Netherlands was simultaneously working to distribute aid and procide shelteron the Dutch side of St. Martin, according to a statement released on Tuesday. |