Hurricane Irma swamps Miami as $200 billion threat hits land [photos]

Updated: 4:55 p.m. EST

(Bloomberg) – Hurricane Irma smashed into Florida as apowerful Category 4 storm, driving a wall of water and violentwinds ashore and marking the first time since 1964 the U.S. was hitby back-to-back major hurricanes.

The storm's eye moved over the lower Florida Keys at about 9a.m. on Sunday with top winds of 130 miles (209 kilometers) perhour, the U.S. National HurricaneCenter said. After Irma rakes Florida's west coast, it may keepmoving north across Georgia and Alabama.

Surges, winds

The storm is so large that cities on the southern and easternextremes of the state are being hit with surges and winds highenough to topple a crane in Miami (see photo on nextpage), where the flooded Brickell financial district lookedlike a swift river.

Hurricane-force winds extend 80 miles from its core and tropicalstorm-strength gales reach out 220 miles, which is about the samedistance as between Boston and New York.

“We are about to get our own version of what hell looks like,”Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said in a CNN interview.

Just over two weeks after Hurricane Harvey struck the heart of U.S.energy production in Texas, Irma is threatening another region withalmost $200 billion worth of damage. Irma's wrath has alreadyroiled markets, sending insurance stocks plunging and orange juicefutures surging.

At least 1.6 million homes and businesses inFlorida had lost power by noon, according to Rob Gould, a spokesmanfor Florida Power & Light, the state's biggest utilityoperator.

1st major hurricane to hit Florida since 2005

The storm's path forced the largest evacuation in Miami-DadeCounty history and sent millions of Floridians fleeing. It's thefirst major hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in 2005 and hasalready laid waste to the small island of Barbuda, killed at least25 people and left thousands homeless across the Caribbean.

The storm's track along Florida's west coast “is almost, if not,a worst-case scenario for Tampa Bay,” said Rob Miller, ameteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.“It shoves all the water into Tampa Bay and then shoves it rightinto downtown.”

Just before Irma's landfall, Enki Research disaster modelerChuck Watson said the storm's trek up Florida's coast could cost$192 billion and threatens $2 trillion of property. Total lossesfrom Katrina reached $160 billion in 2017 dollars after it slammedinto New Orleans in 2005.

Irma is “easily on track to be the new No. 1 storm unlessintensity collapses,” Watson said.

The system was about 65 miles south-southeast of Naples,Florida, and moving north 9 miles per hour, according to a 1 p.m.update. The storm could make a second landfall in Florida nearMarco Island or Sarasota late Sunday and a third near Apalachicolain the state's Panhandle region on Monday. By then, Irma may haveweakened because of wind shear.

Hurricane Irma damages construction crane in downtown Miama

A crane atop a building under construction in downtown,center, collapsed as Hurricane Irma passed by, Sunday, Sept. 10,2017, in Miami. The crane collapsed in a bayfront area filled withhotels and high-rise condo and office buildings, nearAmericanAirlines Arena, according to a tweet from the City ofMiami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

'Enormous destructive power'

In Washington, the House of Representatives said lawmakersshouldn't expect planned votes Monday because of absences caused bythe storm, according to an announcement by the office of MajorityLeader Kevin McCarthy. And President Donald Trump described thehurricane as “a storm of enormous destructive power.”

In Miami, at least two construction cranes collapsed under theforce of ferocious winds, leaving them teetering on the sides ofbuildings under construction.

Firefighters ventured out in an armored vehicle to inspect oneon downtown Biscayne Boulevard, said spokesman Captain IgnatiusCarroll. Fire officials asked neighbors to take refuge on the otherside of their buildings.

“We don't want anyone looking out their windows or going nearthere, because they could be hit by debris,” Carroll said.

Along flooded Brickell Avenue, side streets became tributariesand wind whipped up whitecaps on water coursing by office buildingsin the financial district.

At the J.W. Marriott hotel in the neighborhood, guests werepulled into an emergency shelter in the fifth-floor ballroom ascell phones started beeping weather warnings. Hotel staff set up avideo screen to play movies, provided board games and even aspecial room for pet care. Speakers played soothing lounge music,and a giant video screen cycled images of tropicalbeaches.

palm trees damaged by Hurricane Irma in Miami

Recently planted palm trees lie strewn across the road asHurricane Irma passes by, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017, in Miami Beach,Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Storm surge

The Tampa Bay area may be hit with a worse storm surge becausethe continental shelf there is relatively shallow for as much as 90miles offshore, said Jeff Masters, co-founder of WeatherUnderground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The last major hurricane to hitTampa was in 1921, Masters said.

On the city's Bayshore Boulevard, the waters of Tampa Bay hadactually receded as much 200 feet Sunday morning. Detritus such asdiscarded beer cans and sea shells could be seen atop muddy sandthat until recently had been covered by the water.

Downtown, the commercial center, the port and cruise terminalwere virtually deserted as rain increased and winds picked up.Buildings were fortified with boards over windows and three-footwalls of sandbags at the doors.

Geoff Rutland, 40, a lifelong Tampa resident, and his wife,D.J., decided to ride out the storm with five other families and apastor in the Crossing Jordan Family Worship Center.

At an ice vending machine about a block away, there was a lineas much as 30 deep. He helped others tie ice bags, fill coolers andkeep calm. During a phone interview he repeatedly paused to refusetips from those he helped.

“I'm not here for money,” he said. “I'm just here to helppeople.”

A billboard is ripped apart by high winds along Interstate 95 Northbound as Hurricane Irma passes

A billboard is ripped apart by high winds along Interstate95 Northbound as Hurricane Irma passes by, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017,in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

In other storm news

Irma may wipe out as much as 20% of the citrus crop in theworld's second-largest orange juice producer.
Airlines have canceled 10,699 flights, according to air-traffictracker FlightAware.
Jose, the third major hurricane of the 2017 season, waspassing well north of Puerto Rico with maximum sustained winds of130 miles an hour and is expected to linger over the westernAtlantic for several days.
Hurricane Irma has caused $12.7 billion of damages across theCaribbean, according to German's Center for Disaster Management andRisk Reduction.
More than 4.4 million customers of the state's two largestutilities may lose power, based on company forecasts Saturday.
NextEra shut a reactor at its Turkey Point nuclear plant andplanned leave a second online given how the storm's path hasshifted.

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