Forecast Models: South Florida Direct hit

Hurricane forecast models are starting to come together and project South Florida taking a direct hit from Hurricane Irma.

As of 8:00 am EDT, Hurricane Irma has maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and is moving at 16 mph.

Irma is projected to remain a strong category 4 hurricane as it makes landfall on Florida.

From the National Hurricane Center – Hurricane Irma Public Advisory.

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located near
latitude 21.8 North, longitude 74.7 West. Irma is moving toward the
west-northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this motion is expected to
continue for the next day or so with a decrease in forward speed. A
turn toward the northwest is expected by late Saturday. On the
forecast track, the eye of Irma should move near the north coast
of Cuba and the central Bahamas today and Saturday, and be near the
Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula Sunday morning.

Maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h) with higher
gusts. Irma is a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely
during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a
powerful category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.

The slower a hurricane moves, the more time it has to display its destructive ability. If Irma does slow down as projected, this will give the hurricane force winds time to batter everything in their path.

Parts of Florida are reportedly running out of gas, which is bad news for people trying to evacuate.

Then there is more bad news, from AOL – Parts of Florida are running out of gas as Hurricane Irma approaches.

Several gas stations in Florida ran out of gas Thursday as Hurricane Irma approached the state.

Supplies fell as people heeded evacuation orders for some southern parts of the state. Last week, Hurricane Harvey crippled oil refineries in Texas, creating shortages even before Irma made landfall in the Caribbean.

According to GasBuddy, 43% of all gas stations in Miami and 20% in Orlando were without gas as of Wednesday morning.

It appears the situation in Florida is deteriorating. With no way to evacuate, people will be forced to shelter in place.