Whats in the path of Hurricane Irma
Irma continues to churn through the Caribbean as some of the 6 million residents in its likely path in Florida begin to evacuate. The storm gave Barbuda a direct hit on Wednesday morning, leaving the island barely habitable, according to its prime minister. Its center passed north of Puerto Rico, delivering lashing rain bands, damaging winds and warnings of flash flooding. The storm could reach Florida this weekend, and the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the bottom third of the state at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Florida knows hurricanes, it just hasnt met many lately. The state has withstood more direct hurricane strikes than any other state, and it is often grazed by storms that end up making landfall elsewhere.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew rampaged through South Florida, causing 65 deaths and more than $26 billion in damage. Destroying more than 28,000 homes and damaging at least 107,000 others, the storm would be the costliest natural disaster in the United States until Katrina in 2005.
However, until Hermine made landfall in 2016, Florida had gone more than a decade without a direct hit from a major storm. This lengthy lull came after two hyperactive hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005, which together produced more than 40 named storms and 13 major hurricanes. The 2005 season produced 28 named storms, the most since 1851 and eight more than the second busiest season of 1933.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/hurricane-irma/?utm_term=.174b8bdf5362&wpisrc=al_alert-national&wpmk=1