6M Without Power as ‘Life-Threatening’ Irma Roars Northward

Nearly 6 million Florida residents were without electricity Monday morning—one of the biggest outages in U.S. history—as Irma continued its record-breaking roar northward. As of 5 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said that even though Irma had dropped in strength to Category 1; later, it lessened to a tropical storm with a danger of “life-threatening” wind, rain, and storm surge flooding in parts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The eye of the storm will likely reach Georgia in just a few hours. Jacksonville reported the storm surge along the St. Johns River had broken its record for floodwaters. The storm’s westward tack may have spared Florida of its worst-case scenario, and Bloomberg News reports new damage forecasts resulted a significant drop in estimated costs from Irma—down to $50 billion from $200 billion, according to Enki Research.