Updated 6:06 p.m. EST
(Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Irma shifted track and took aim at southwestern Florida, raising the risk of severe damage in Tampa and other cities facing the Gulf of Mexico, in what could end up being the most expensive storm in U.S. history.
With top winds of 125 miles (201 kilometers) an hour, the deadly storm is expected to strike the Florida Keys Sunday morning then follow the state’s Gulf Coast north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory around 5 p.m. New York time. At Category 3, Irma is expected to regain strength later Saturday.
|Worst case scenario for Tampa Bay
“A track near or just to the west is almost, if not, a worst-case scenario for Tampa Bay,” said Rob Miller, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. “It shoves all the water into Tampa Bay and then shoves it right into downtown Tampa.”
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