Weakened Irma batters Florida as Cuba confirms 10 dead from hurricane

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>In Cuba&comma; 10 people died when the island was being battered by then-Hurricane Irma&comma; according to state news media&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Most of them died in Havana&comma; which witnessed chest-deep seawater in some neighborhoods&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Several of the deaths occurred in partial building collapses&comma; state media said&period; Much of Cuba&&num;8217&semi;s housing stock is deteriorating&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At least 24 people died in other parts of the Caribbean as the hurricane blew through&period; In the US&comma; the storm&&num;8217&semi;s outer bands were also blowing into Georgia&comma; where the storm&&num;8217&semi;s centre was expected to arrive later in the day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With rough conditions persisting across Florida&comma; many communities in Irma&&num;8217&semi;s wake feared what destruction would be revealed when daylight came&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Winds knocked a utility pole and power lines on to a sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s vehicle in Polk County&comma; east of Tampa&comma; illustrating the dangerous conditions for emergency personnel&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A deputy and a paramedic&comma; who had just escorted an elderly patient to safety&comma; were trapped for two hours until a crew could free them&period; Both were unhurt&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>More than 120 homes were being evacuated in Orange County&comma; just outside the city of Orlando&comma; as floodwaters started to pour in&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Firefighters and the National Guard were going door-to-door and using boats to ferry families to safety&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A few miles away&comma; 30 others had to be evacuated when a 60ft sinkhole opened up under an apartment building&period; No injuries were reported in either case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nearly 4&period;5 million homes and businesses across Florida lost power and utility officials said it will take weeks to restore electricity to everyone&period; More than 100&comma;000 were in the dark in Georgia&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Irma&&num;8217&semi;s centre was about 105 miles north of Tampa when forecasters announced it had weakened to a tropical storm&period; However&comma; they warned its maximum sustained winds were 70mph and the storm was still producing higher gusts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The monster storm&comma; which arrived in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane&comma; has toppled at least three constructions cranes &&num;8211&semi; two over central Miami and one in Fort Lauderdale&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>People in the heavily populated Tampa-St Petersburg area had feared a first direct hit from a major hurricane since 1921&comma; but the storm weakened to a Category 2 as it approached that area&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn said the situation was not as bad as it could have been but warned residents that dangerous storm surge continued&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;HurricaneIrmaFloridaRoof11Sep2017&lowbar;large&period;jpg"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;09&sol;HurricaneIrmaFloridaRoof11Sep2017&lowbar;large&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Hurricane Irma" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"325" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-118344" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He also described downed power lines and other debris&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;What we feared the most was the surge&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i> he said&period; <i>&&num;8220&semi;The surge is yet to be finished&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; rescue efforts ramped up in the evacuated neighbourhood near Orlando as Guardsmen in helmets and fatigues rolled through standing water in a high-clearance vehicle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Firefighters rescued a puppy from one of the homes there and leashed the anxious dog to the front of one of their trucks to give it water and food&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As the sun rose in Orlando&comma; many tried to survey the damage&comma; but authorities warned that conditions remain dangerous and asked people not to venture outside because of a curfew&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>No deaths in Florida were immediately linked to the storm&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the Caribbean&comma; at least 24 people were killed during Irma&&num;8217&semi;s destructive trek across exclusive islands known as the holiday playground for the rich&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In Cuba&comma; the storm swamped Havana&&num;8217&semi;s famous seawall&comma; pushing water nearly a third of a mile inland&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In one of the largest US evacuations&comma; nearly seven million people in the south east were warned to seek shelter&comma; including 6&period;4 million in Florida alone&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>More than 200&comma;000 people waited in shelters across Florida&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At Germain Arena&comma; where thousands sought refuge south of Fort Myers&comma; people sat amid puddles on the concrete floor&period; Officials said the arena remained in one piece&comma; but wind-driven water leaked in at the height of the storm&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;Irma went over and we were all like&comma; &&num;8216&semi;Oh good&comma; we survived&period;&&num;8217&semi; And then all of a sudden some of the panels came off the roof&comma; I guess&comma; and we started getting water pouring down in different places&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i> said 61-year-old Mary Fitzgerald&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;It was was like&comma; &&num;8216&semi;Oh my God&comma; what is going to happen&quest;'&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Bryan Koon&comma; Florida&&num;8217&semi;s emergency management director&comma; said late on Sunday that authorities had only scattered information about the storm&&num;8217&semi;s toll&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;I&&num;8217&semi;ve not heard of catastrophic damage&period; It doesn&&num;8217&semi;t mean it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t exist&period; It means it hasn&&num;8217&semi;t gotten to us yet&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i> Mr Koon said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In the low-lying Keys&comma; where a storm surge of over 10ft was recorded&comma; appliances and furniture were seen floating away&comma; and Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said the ocean waters were filled with navigation hazards&comma; including sunken boats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>County administrator Roman Gastesi said crews would begin house-to-house searches to check on survivors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Storm surge and tornadoes were two big concerns&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A tide gauge in Naples reported a 7ft rise in water levels in just 90 minutes late on Sunday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>An apparent tornado spun off by Irma destroyed six mobile homes in Palm Bay&comma; midway up the Atlantic coast&period; Flooding was reported along Interstate 4&comma; which cuts across Florida&&num;8217&semi;s midsection&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Curfews were imposed overnight in Miami&comma; Tampa&comma; Fort Lauderdale and much of the rest of south Florida&comma; and some arrests of violators were reported&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Miami Beach barred outsiders from the island&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>About 30&comma;000 people heeded orders to leave the Keys as the storm closed in but an untold number refused&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>John Huston&comma; who stayed in his Key Largo home&comma; watched his garden flood even before the arrival of high tide&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>&&num;8220&semi;Small boats floating down the street next to furniture and refrigerators&period; Very noisy&comma;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i> he said by text message&period; <i>&&num;8220&semi;Shingles are coming off&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;i><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Irma is expected to push into Georgia&comma; Alabama&comma; Mississippi&comma; Tennessee and beyond&period; A tropical storm warning was issued for the first time ever in Atlanta&comma; where many schools cancelled classes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Irma was once the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the open Atlantic&comma; a Category 5 with a peak wind speed of 185mph&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For days&comma; forecasters had warned Irma was taking dead aim at Florida&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Irma made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday morning at Cudjoe Key&comma; not far from Key West&period; It then rounded Florida&&num;8217&semi;s south-western corner and hugged the coast closely as it pushed north&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2e4f81b62">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; 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