Hurricane Irma Damage Estimates Smaller Than Feared
Hurricane Irma weakened to a category 1 storm early Monday and was expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it travels north along the Florida peninsula and into Georgia, the National Hurricane Center said. Damage estimates from Hurricane Irma's battering of Florida over the weekend look smaller than first feared.
Irma's wind speeds have slowed to around 75 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an update early Monday, although it cautioned that hurricane gusts and storm surges could still cause life-threatening conditions along Irma's path up the western Florida coast. The massive storm measured more than 400 miles wide, and its winds reached 130 mph. The storm swamped much of downtown Miami and toppled at least three constructions cranes -- two over downtown Miami and one in Fort Lauderdale, the Associated Press reported.
According to some reports, nearly 4 million to 5 million homes and businesses in Florida lost power, and utility officials said it could take weeks to restore electricity to everyone. AIR Worldwide, a risk modeling software company, projected that Hurricane Irma will create combined insured losses of $20 billion to $65 billion. Bryan Koon, Florida's emergency management director, said late Sunday, Sept. 10, that authorities had only scattered information about the storm's toll. "I've not heard of catastrophic damage. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It means it hasn't gotten to us yet," Koon said, the AP reported.
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