News: Irma's path of destruction

The latest

Irma's a tropical depression this morning, lumbering its way through the Southeast and bringing heavy rain to Alabama and western Tennessee. Monday it brought strong winds and flooding to parts of Georgia and South Carolina. And folks are just beginning to pick up the pieces in Florida, where Irma spread its devastation across the entire state and left nearly 60% of it in the dark. As of this morning there are five storm-related deaths in the United States.

Florida Keys

Officials are having a hard time getting to some parts of the Keys (especially Key Largo), which seemed to bear the full brunt of Irma's wrath. Part of US 1, the highway that connects the islands with the Florida mainland, is under water. And debris in the water makes it difficult to get to the Keys by boat right now. There are reports of widespread damage and power outages, but officials just won't know how bad things are until they're able to get there. The estimated 10,000 people who rode out the storm in the Keys may need to be evacuated, according to the Defense Department, but Key West's city manager says there are no plans to do that just yet.

Florida peninsula

Three-fourths of Miami doesn't have power. Officials are trying to clear roads as thousands of trees are down. Marco Island, where Irma made a second landfall, is back open but doesn't have water or electricity. Jacksonville was hit with flash flooding as the St. Johns River rose to record levels. About a dozen homes in Tampa were damaged by falling trees, and flooding from rising rivers will be a problem in the coming days. Naples' mayor says his city, which mostly is without power, faces a "massive cleanup" as many trees are down and streets are flooded.
Many airports in Florida plan to reopen today, and so do Disney World and the state's other theme parks.

Georgia and South Carolina

More than 1.4 million customers lost power in Georgia, which was blasted by Irma's fierce winds and torrential downpours. Many schools in the state will be closed for a second day. So will the state government. Irma left downed trees and widespread power outages in its wake in Atlanta. More than 200,000 people in South Carolina don't have power because of the storm. There was also widespread flooding in the state's coastal areas, including Charleston.

The Caribbean

And don't forget about what Irma did to the Caribbean. Irma, as a Category 5 storm, left at least 36 people dead there and a trail of destruction from Barbuda to Cuba. People on St. Martin/St. Maarten, Anguilla, and the US and British Virgin Islands are in desperate need of supplies and also more security as there are reports of looting. Trees were ripped from the ground and roofs were torn from buildings in Cuba, where there was also flooding in low-lying areas.