Hurricane Irma is officially the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Wilma in 2005.
As with Wilma, this category 5 hurricane is currently bringing maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, moving at 16 mph west-northwest (according to the NOAA), and is currently pummeling the small Caribbean islands of St. Martin and Anguilla. The storm could hit the British Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico as soon as this afternoon.
As of 4:10 p.m. ET, Irma is approximately 70 miles east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, meaning it could hit PR’s largest city at around 8:30 p.m. ET this evening.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló (D) has declared a state of emergency, and thanked Pres. Trump for his support.
Mr. President @realDonaldTrump thank you for standing by #PuertoRico at this time. Your support is essential to the island’s quick recovery.
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) September 5, 2017
Official statement from the @WhiteHouse after @POTUS @realDonaldTrump issues Emergency Declaration for Puerto Rico pic.twitter.com/CM2NxxbCaS
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) September 6, 2017
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has expressed his support for the commonwealth.
Our prayers are with our fellow Americans in #PuertoRico We are ready to respond after #HurricaneIrma to help recovery.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) September 6, 2017
Gov. Rosselló has called into shows on Weather Channel, Fox Business and CNN to talk about how PR is preparing for Irma.
Live on @NewDay @CNN Tune in! pic.twitter.com/9FGqjDpVWu
— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) September 6, 2017
.@ricardorossello on #Irma: “We’ve activated the whole National Guard…The @POTUS has an eye on this storm.” pic.twitter.com/8FMcm5BUU1
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 5, 2017
Irma is forecast to move towards the U.S. mainland and South Florida this weekend.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors and residents in the Florida Keys, which will officially go into effect tonight.
There is currently a mandatory evacuation order for all visitors in the FL Keys- this order will go into effect for all residents tonight.
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 6, 2017
Gov. Scott appeared on GMA this morning.
Hurricane #Irma “is bigger than [Hurricane] Andrew. It will have more storm surge than Andrew.” – Gov. @FLGovScott to @GMA pic.twitter.com/swtsl6PqIG
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 6, 2017
TV newsers are heading to various locations to cover the storm.
Fox Newsers on the ground include:
- Bryan Llenas will be live from Miami, Florida.
- Adam Housley will be live from Miami, Florida.
- Joel Waldman will be live from Miami, Florida.
- Phil Keating will be live from Miami, Florida.
- Steve Harrigan will be live from Miami, Florida.
- Matt Finn will be live from Tampa, FL.
- Griff Jenkins will be live from a TBD location in Florida.
- Fox & Friends correspondent Jillian Mele will be live from a TBD location in Florida.
- Rick Leventhal will be live from a TBD location in Florida.
- Jonathan Serrie will be live from a TBD Southeastern location.
- Lauren Blanchard will be live from a TBD location in Florida.
- Peter Doocy will be live from a TBD Southeastern location
- Fox News meteorologists Janice Dean, Adam Klotz and Rick Reichmuth contributing to reports from New York.
ABC News:
- World News Tonight anchor David Muir will lead coverage on the ground from Florida.
- Chief meteorologist Ginger Zee will report on the storm’s latest developments from New York.
- GMA news anchor Amy Robach, senior meteorologist Rob Marciano, chief national correspondent and World News Tonight weekend anchor Tom Llamas, and correspondents Gio Benitez and Alex Perez will also report from Florida
- Correspondent Linzie Janis will report from Puerto Rico
- Foreign correspondent James Longman will report from the Bahamas
- Senior national correspondent Matt Gutman and correspondents Eva Pilgrim and Victor Oquendo will track the storm on location.
- Correspondent David Kerley will cover travel disruption and chief business and economic correspondent Rebecca Jarvis will report on the potential economic impact of the storm.
Leyla Santiago and George Howell are there for CNN. Morgan Radford is there for NBC News.
We will continue to monitor the storm and add more names to the post as the week continues.