Category 2 Hurricane Irma continues to march north scrapping Florida’s west coast. As of the 8 p.m. ET update, the storm is about 30 miles southeast of Port Charlotte, moving north toward Sarasota and Tampa.
Since our last update, NBC News produced a 90-minute special from 4:30-6 p.m. as well as NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt in Tampa; the CBS Evening News expanded to an hour (6-7 p.m.) with Jeff Glor in Tampa; and ABC continued its marathon coverage which included World News Tonight with David Muir in Naples at 6:30 p.m. and a special edition of 20/20 at 7 p.m. (definitely not America’s Funniest Home Videos, which is probably what your TV’s guide indicated).
“We’re driving the wrong way — I don’t recommend this if you ever come vacationing in the Keys — we’re driving the wrong way on U.S. 1, we’re headed back north here because there’s a big debris field I wanted to show you,” said Bill Weir as he drove in the Upper Keys around 5:15 p.m. “I’m here so you don’t have to be.”
.@BillWeirCNN reports on what #HurricaneIrma left behind in Key Largo in the upper FL Keys https://t.co/F8xlheDxGy https://t.co/4MKGJzqdUH
— CNN (@CNN) September 10, 2017
Monroe County, which includes the Keys, has already declared a humanitarian crisis, CBS’s Elaine Quijano reports:
In Key Largo, @monroecounty emergency management officials tell @Elaine_Quijano they believe #Irma's effect is a "humanitarian crisis" pic.twitter.com/rj3TgqdxWj
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 10, 2017
"For all of us, our team here on the ground and around the world… have a good night everyone, and thanks for watching." #Irma pic.twitter.com/3jgcC95XWZ
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) September 10, 2017