IrmaSpecial

T H E F R O N T P A G E S O F
SURVIVING
HURRICANE
IRMA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2017

FROM THE EDITOR
TU journalism captured stories of unforgettable Irma
MARY KELLI
PALKA
THE FLORIDA
TIMES-UNION
Dora was the name we often invoked when
we talked about the worst of what Mother Nature
could do to Northeast Florida.
Parents and grandparents shared stories
about Hurricane Dora. The 1964 storm crashed
into the First Coast – a rare direct hit – and into
the history books.
It was the storm we hoped we’d never see
again.
Then came Irma.
Unlike its predecessor, Irma didn’t make
landfall in Northeast Florida. It didn’t matter. Its
surge was worse.
The flooding that followed Irma’s departure
sent water from the St. Johns River and its
tributaries through homes, into businesses and
onto streets.
Times-Union journalists prepared you for
what to expect. They told you about the nor’easter
that had parked atop the city in the days
before Irma’s arrival, and why that mattered.
They covered the warnings from Mayor Lenny
Curry and meteorologists who said the river
waters would rise.
Those same journalists left their homes in
the early morning hours of Sept. 11 to document
Irma’s wrath on the First Coast. From Ponte
Vedra Beach to Black Creek. From Riverside
to River Road. From Empire Point to Forest Hills
Road.
We told you stories about the power outages
and sewage spills. We told you about the rescues
by kayak and by boat, by first responders and
by strangers. We told you about St. Vincent’s
hospital in Riverside evacuating patients.
One day, we will tell our children and grandchildren
about the howling wind, the muddy
water and the heartbreaking destruction. And
we will tell about the people who lined up to
help, with their time, their money and their acts
of kindness.
In the last few days, you’ve shared those
stories with us.
And today, we share them with Northeast
Florida in this special section. These Florida
Times-Union front pages from the eight days
before, during and immediately after Irma
capture with words and images the mark Irma
left on our area.
This is the story of how our community
survived Irma.
IRMA’S FURY SLAMS
NORTHEAST FLORIDA
BY NATE MONROE/THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
In Jacksonville, August 30, 2017, was an
unremarkable overcast day. But in the
far flung reaches of the Atlantic Ocean
— near a volcanic archipelago off the
West African peninsula — a fateful turn
of events was taking place.
National Hurricane Center forecasters
in Miami noticed that over this
deserted stretch of warm water a cluster of
storm bands had organized around a center
of low pressure, where the winds had risen
to about 50 mph. Something sublime and
disturbing was happening within this rotating
knot of Cape Verde clouds.
“Upper-level winds are likely to be favorable
for strengthening,” the initial forecast
said in the clinical language of meteorologists.
Tropical Storm Irma was born.
It’s a name Floridians are not likely to
forget.
Over its 14-day life, Irma chugged like
a demon possessed across the ocean,
exploding into one of the strongest Category
5 hurricanes in history, raining devastation
on island communities that got in its way,
and ultimately taking aim at Florida’s heavily
populated peninsula.
What exactly Irma had in store for the
state — and for Jacksonville — remained
maddeningly unclear even as the storm
inched closer. The spellbinding chart of multicolored
spaghetti models that predicted
Irma’s next move seemed to shift by the hour.
At one point, the forecast showed that
the storm might move north just off the
Florida East Coast, a path similar to the one
Hurricane Matthew had taken the previous
year, possibly sparing the state from the
hurricane’s most severe conditions.
For a brief time, the projected path
showed that Irma might make landfall in
Miami and then virtually run up Interstate
95, a calamitous possibility for the entire
East Coast.
Hurricane Irma was moving due west,
but forecasters were certain the storm would
abruptly turn north. The question was when
this crucial turn would happen.
Something drew Irma west.
By Friday, Sept. 8, it was clear that Irma
was eying the opposite coast — with possibly
catastrophic consequences for the Keys
— placing the booming cities in the prosperous
Southwest Peninsula in terrible danger.
Gov. Rick Scott and public officials across
the state began issuing orders for vulnerable
people to flee. Irma, stretching on for more
than 400 miles, was wider than the entire
peninsula, putting cities on both coasts,
from the south through the north, at risk of
severe weather. No one would escape Irma’s
wrath. Bottled water was hard to find, and
gas pumps ran dry. The highways became
gridlocked. Scott ordered police escorts for
fuel tankers, and he allowed motorists to use
the shoulder on Interstate 75 to cross into
Georgia.
There is no easy way for millions of
Floridians to escape when the only safe way
out is north.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry issued
mandatory evacuation orders Sept. 8 for
about 250,000 people who lived in coastal,
riverfront and low-lying areas. Get out, he
said, we may not be able to save you when
the floodwaters rise.
And yet.
It was hard to ignore the westward shift
in Irma’s path, which seemed to place the
city beyond the reach of the hurricane’s
most severe weather. Not once in its modern
era had downtown and its surrounding
neighborhoods experienced a serious flood,
IRMA’S
NUMBERS
$40 billion
Estimated insurance
losses caused by Irma.
6,500,000
Estimated number
of people ordered
to evacuate Florida,
potentially the
largest evacuation
in US history.
1,300,000
Number of people
without power
across Florida in the
first four hours after
Irma made landfall.
70,000
Square mileage of
Irma’s tropical storm
force winds. That’s
larger than the area
of Florida, which is
65,000 square miles.
185
Top strength in
miles per hour of
Irma’s maximum
sustained winds.
37
Hours that Irma
maintained winds
of 185 mph or above,
the longest on record.
3.25
Number of days
Irma spent as a
Category 5 hurricane,
the longest Category 5
storm since satellite
storm-tracking began.
1
By itself, Irma
generated enough
accumulated
cyclone energy to
be as powerful as
an entire Atlantic
hurricane season.
SOURCES: FEMA, National
Hurricane Center, NWS, NOAA,
the State of Florida, CNN
despite sitting along the banks of the St.
Johns River, a brackish waterway with strong
currents that is heavily influenced by ocean
tides.
It was a remarkable run of luck that had
lasted for generations. Maybe it’s because of
the city’s geography: Jacksonville is tucked
away on a coastline that curves inward.
Maybe it’s because the Atlantic isn’t as
hospitable to major storms as the bath-water-like
Gulf of Mexico. Maybe it’s just dumb
luck.
Hurricane Matthew was supposed to be
our reckoning in 2016, until it wasn’t.
Would Irma be any different?
Many residents seemed
to think not.
People stocked up
on last-minute liquor
and beer, topped off
fuel tanks and packed
into well-known local
watering holes and
diners — Players Grille on Hendricks Avenue,
Waffle House on Roosevelt Boulevard,
Kickbacks in Riverside. In Atlantic Beach,
residents crowded Beach Diner for breakfast
before heading in for the day.
The parking lot of Wacko’s Gentlemen’s
Club on Emerson Street was packed Saturday
night.
“I got bored listening to [forecasts] …
Wanted to have some fun,” one patron said.
The Jaguars played Sunday, boosting
last-minute sales at sports bars and the
spirits of skeptical fans, who watched in
disbelief as the team cruised to a 29-7 win
over the Houston Texans.
Meanwhile, public officials in Northeast
Florida, grim-faced and alarmed by
the spreading complacency, continued to
issue stern warnings. Irma was expected
to sideswipe the region as it moved north,
somewhere near I-75. Its long tendrils were
expected to start lashing Jacksonville by
about 8 p.m. Sunday.
“The track looks like Matthew, but it is
not Matthew,” Atlantic Beach Mayor Mitch
Reeves said. “This is a dangerous storm. If
you are leaving, leave now.”
Of particular concern was a lingering
nor’easter that cast the city in a gray pall
throughout the weekend, dumping rain and
whipping the region with 40-60 mph wind
gusts that pushed ocean water into the St.
Johns River. The nor’easter was being super-charged
by Irma’s approach, the result
of the interaction of high and low pressures.
The city would be sopping wet and its
waterways swollen before the first drop of
rain from Irma fell.
As twilight approached, the winds started
rising.
Hurricane Dora, which hit
Jacksonville in 1964, was the
city’s last great flood event.
The surge from Irma
had surpassed it by low tide
Monday morning.
A cocktail of severe
natural forces converged in
ways that turned Monday into a slow-motion
disaster for downtown, Riverside, San
Marco and other neighborhoods throughout
the city that sit along the St. Johns River
and the maze of waterways that feed into it.
Irma passed Jacksonville as a weak
Category 2 transitioning into a Category
1, before becoming a tropical storm as it
moved into Georgia. But the storm surge in
Northeast Florida was like something from
a Category 3 hurricane.
The most severe winds and rain had
subsided by sunrise Monday, but the
bulging St. Johns River was gushing water
into riverfront neighborhoods. City officials
begged vulnerable residents to flee those
areas in the hours before high tide peaked
in downtown at 2 p.m., and search-and-rescue
crews dispatched to pluck hundreds of
people from their homes worked well into
the afternoon.
The rush of water into some of the city’s
marquee enclaves for arts and culture —
like Riverside — as well as many of its working-class
neighborhoods on the Northside
and elsewhere in the suburbs made for
striking and alarming imagery throughout
the day.
River water cascaded like a waterfall into
the parking garage beneath Wells Fargo
tower in downtown. The statue in Memorial
Park in Riverside was completely surrounded
by water. Viewed from the right angle,
EverBank Field looked like a towering island
in the middle of the sea.
It was the city’s worst flood in 150 years.
“Irma definitely left its mark on Jacksonville,”
said Angie Enyedi, a meteorologist
with the Jacksonville office of the National
Weather Service.
Recovery from Hurricane Irma
will mean different things to
different people in Jacksonville,
and in the region
around it.
Flooding caused such catastrophic
damage in the north
and south prongs of Black
Creek — rural communities in Clay County
— it stunned longtime residents.
Some homes that didn’t flood were
wrecked by fallen trees.
“I’m done with Florida,” said Pat Cooke,
an artist whose home on Fulton Road in
Arlington was heavily damaged by a fallen
tree.
Neighborhoods in the Northwest part
of the city near the Ribault and Trout rivers
saw major flooding as well.
The storm knocked out power to more
than a quarter-million JEA customers.
“We were shocked yesterday when the
flooding started here,” Scott after taking an
aerial tour of the city.
The city had not reported any fatalities
as a result of Irma. As of this writing, the city
had not yet calculated the scale of damage,
though it seems clear thousands of homes
and businesses sustained serious damage
from flooding or wind. Tens of thousands
remained without power.
Jacksonville is ready to rebuild, and to
move on.
The day after the storm, sun-soaked skies
lured beachgoers. Experienced surfers rode
a sizable swell. People wanted to eat, and
to fish.
And watch football. Curry and Jaguars
President Mark Lamping said the team
would play its Sunday game against the
Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field.
“Yesterday we had to act so fast …
to save lives, and now we just begin the
rebuilding process,” Curry said. “And we’ll
get it done.”
Times-Union reporters Christopher Hong,
Teresa Stepzinski, Andrew Pantazi, Steve
Patterson, David Bauerlein, Eileen Kelley,
Tessa Duvall, Ben Conarck, Drew Dixon,
Joe Daraskevich, Amanda Williamson,
Roger Bull, Charlie Patton, Denise Amos,
David Crumpler, Tiffanie Reynolds and
Roger Bull contributed to this report.
COPYRIGHT ©2017
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
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Wednesday
September 6, 2017
$2
Trump ends
program to
help young
immigrants
Get ready for Irma
Congress has six months
to draw up new legislation
By Jill Colvin
Associated press
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump
on Tuesday began dismantling Barack
Obama’s program protecting hundreds of
thousands of young immigrants who were
brought into the country illegally as children,
declaring he loves the “dreamers”
who could face deportation but insisting
it’s up to Congress, not him, to address
their plight.
Trump didn’t specify what he wanted
done, essentially sending a six-month time
bomb to his fellow Republicans in Congress
who have no consensus on how to
defuse it.
The president tried to have it both ways
with his compromise plan: fulfilling his
campaign promise to eliminate the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program,
or DACA, while at the same time
showing compassion for those who would
lose deportation protection and the ability
to work legally in the U.S. New applications
will be rejected and the program will
be formally rescinded, but the administration
will continue to renew existing twoyear
work permits for the next six months,
giving Congress time to act.
“I have a love for these people and hopefully
now Congress will be able to help
them and do it properly,” Trump said.
Yet at the same time, the White House
distributed talking points to members of
Congress that included a warning: “The
Department of Homeland Security urges
DACA recipients to use the time remaining
on their work authorizations to prepare
for and arrange their departure from
the United States.”
Although Trump’s announcement had
been anticipated, it still left young people
covered by the DACA program reeling.
“You just feel like you are empty,” said a
sobbing Paola Martinez, 23, who came to
the U.S. from Colombia and recently graduated
with a civil engineering degree from
Florida International University
“I honestly can’t even process it right
now,” said Karen Marin, an immigrant
from Mexico, who was in a physics class at
Bronx Community College when the news
broke.
Emilie Deal; Branden Watts, 2; Curtis Deal, 2; and Brittany Watts leave Costco with a cart full of bottled water and a big bag
of dog food late Tuesday morning. Shoppers cleaned out the bottled water at the St. Johns Town Center’s Costco before noon
Tuesday as they stocked up on supplies as Hurricane Irma makes its way toward Florida. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)
mayor urges residents to prepare as hurricane reaches Category 5
By Joe Daraskevich
joe.daraskevich@jacksonville.com
Cars line up for gas at BJ’s on Philips Highway at
Baymeadows Road in Jacksonville as Hurricane Irma
approaches the state. (Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union)
Jacksonville officials
are preparing for severe
weather as Hurricane Irma
strengthens in the Atlantic
Ocean, while Tropical
Storm Jose forms right behind
it.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny
Curry and other city leaders
met with the National
Weather Service at the city’s
emergency operations center
Tuesday afternoon to
develop a plan in case the
hurricane hits Northeast
Florida.
Curry said there is still a
lot of uncertainty surrounding
Irma, but residents
should prepare a survival
kit and an evacuation plan
in case the area is impacted.
“Pray that this thing falls
apart for everyone, but prepare
as if it won’t,” he said.
Irma, now a Category 5
storm, was about 85 miles
east of Antigua and 95 miles
east-southeast of Barbuda as
of 8 p.m. Tuesday, according
to the National Hurricane
Center. It had maximum
sustained winds of 185 mph
and was moving west at 15
mph.
Tropical Storm Jose is
gaining momentum with
maximum sustained winds
morE inSidE
Sewer safeguards: JEA works
to prevent repeat of last year’s
Matthew mess. B-1
Governor’s warning: Irma
will hit Florida, Gov. Rick Scott
says. B-1
Mark Woods: Hoping for
the best and preparing for
Hurricane Irma. B-1
Seeking shelter: Evacuees
from South Florida fill
Jacksonville hotel rooms. D-1
of 45 mph and was last located
about 1,400 miles east
of the Lesser Antilles, according
to the Hurricane
Center. It was moving west
at 12 mph.
Curry said residents can
get information about what
irmA continues on A-4
DACA continues on A-4
Art Walk events moving inside out of protest fears at monument
By Christopher Hong
christopher.hong@jacksonville.com
Organizers of downtown’s
Art Walk, a monthly
event that has evolved into
a de facto block party, are
moving Wednesday’s event
into businesses and other
private venues because of
safety concerns stemming
from a protest last month
over the proposed removal
of a Confederate monument
in Hemming Park.
The event brings thousands
of people downtown
on the first Wednesday of
each month. While local
galleries feature exhibitions
to showcase local
artists, most of the action
unfolds outside. Streets
are closed, musicians and
dancers perform on the
sidewalks, and people can
buy beer, food or art from
vendors located around
Hemming Park.
In recent months, Hemming
Park has become
ground zero for the local
debate surrounding the future
of Confederate monuments
in public places.
The park features a
62-foot Vermont granite
monument dedicated to
Confederate soldiers who
died in the Civil War. Hemming
Park is named after
Civil War veteran Charles
C. Hemming, who donated
the monument.
As cities across the country
began relocating Confederate
monuments, local
groups have called for both
the removal and preservation
of the Hemming Park
monument.
At last month’s Art Walk,
a group opposed to removing
the monuments held a
protest. The demonstration
wasn’t violent, but police
officers intervened after a
verbal altercation erupted
between protesters and
counterprotesters.
Since last month’s Art
Walk, City Council President
Anna Lopez Brosche
called for an inventory of
all Confederate monuments
on public property and said
she plans to introduce legislation
to remove them.
In light of last month’s
protest and the developments
surrounding the hotbutton
issue, Downtown
Vision Inc., the nonprofit
that organizes Art Walk,
decided to move the event
to private property.
ArT continues on A-4
Weather
Summer holds
Forecast on A-2
90 72
today's
high
thursday
morning's
low
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152ND YEAR
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Thursday
September 7, 2017
$2
vandals
deface
monuments
Metro, B-1
florida, fsu move
games to noon
to avoid storm
Sports, C-1
csx service
is improving,
chief says
Money, D-1
IRMA AIMS FOR FLORIDA
Mayor declares
emergency as
city gets ready
By Joe Daraskevich
joe.daraskevich@jacksonville.com
Bridge tenders climb down the Main Street bridge as workers prepare to remove scaffolding in preparation for Hurricane Irma on
Wednesday in Jacksonville. (Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union)
Hurricane lashes Caribbean, has U.S. in its sights
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry declared
a state of emergency Wednesday
starting at 3 p.m. as Hurricane Irma
pounded the Caribbean and continued to
move toward the United States.
He said the uncertain path of the hurricane
made it hard to tell if mandatory
evacuations would be necessary in Jacksonville,
but he encouraged people living
in certain pockets of the city to evacuate
early to avoid traffic from South Florida.
“I would prepare and I would begin to
leave,” Curry said.
During an afternoon briefing with the
National Weather Service, Curry said he
was told by advisers Jacksonville could experience
a heavy traffic problem late in the
week and into the weekend due to people
traveling north through the area to avoid
the storm.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said
the best option for drivers leaving the area
is to head north on Interstate 95 because
Interstate 75 is the only other main artery
out of the state and both will be clogged
CiTy continues on A-4
By Danica Coto
Associated press
SAN JUAN, PUerto rico | Heavy
rain and historic, 185 mph
winds lashed the Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico’s northeast
coast Wednesday as Hurricane
Irma roared through
Caribbean islands on its way to
a possible hit on Florida.
The strongest Atlantic
Ocean hurricane ever measured
destroyed homes and
flooded streets across a chain
of small islands in the northern
Caribbean, passing directly
over Barbuda and leaving the
island of some 1,700 people unable
to communicate with the
outside world.
Midcie Francis, spokesperson
for the National Office of
Disaster Services for Antigua
and Barbuda, said the government
had so far confirmed one
death on Barbuda and heavy
destruction on the island.
“A significant number of the
houses have been totally destroyed,”
said Lionel Hurst, the
prime minister’s chief of staff.
France sent emergency food
and water rations to the French
islands of Saint Martin and
Saint Barthelemy, where Irma
ripped off roofs and knocked
out all electricity. Dutch marines
who flew to three Dutch
This one could be bigger
than Andrew, Scott says
By Jim Turner
News Service of Florida
tALLAHASSee | Gov. Rick
Scott on Wednesday
continued warning Floridians
to pay attention
to record-setting Hurricane
Irma marching
through the Caribbean
toward a weekend encounter
with the Sunshine
State.
Scott said Irma could
be bigger than Hurricane
Andrew, a devastating
Category 5 hurricane
that 25 years ago
raced across South Florida
with 165 mph winds,
destroying more than
63,500 homes, leaving
$26.5 billion in damages
and 65 people dead.
“Here’s what we didn’t
A man surveys the wreckage on his property Wednesday after
the passing of Hurricane Irma in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
Heavy rain and 185 mph winds lashed the Virgin Islands and
Puerto Rico’s northeast coast as the strongest Atlantic hurricane
ever measured, roared through Caribbean islands on its way to a
possible hit on South Florida. (AP Photo/Johnny Jno-Baptiste)
have in Andrew: We
didn’t have this amount
of wind; Andrew was
not as big as this is,”
Scott said Wednesday
morning at the Monroe
County Emergency
Management center in
Marathon. “This is 185
mph winds and they’re
tracking it even higher
than that at some times.”
Jane Hollingsworth,
meteorologist in charge
of the National Weather
Service in Tallahassee,
said the storm, which is
starting to impact the
U.S. Virgin Islands and
British Virgin Islands
as it travels along the
northern shore of Puerto
Rico, agreed with Scott’s
BiggEr continues on A-4
islands hammered by Irma reported
extensive damage, but
no deaths or injuries.
By Wednesday evening, the
center of the storm was 40
miles northwest of St. Thomas
in the U.S. Virgin Islands and
By Michael Biesecker
& Andrew Taylor
Associated press
WASHiNGtoN | Faced with
the looming threat of
dual disasters, the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency on Wednesday
ramped up preparations for
Hurricane Irma as it barreled
toward the Florida
coast, even as the agency
continued the massive recovery
effort in storm-battered
Texas.
It was a one-two punch
of powerful storms certain
to strain the agency’s
quickly dwindling coffers.
The roughly $1 billion
left in FEMA’s Emergency
Response Fund was expected
to run out as soon
as the end of the week, just
as Category 5 Irma could
be pounding Florida and
less than two weeks after
Hurricane Harvey caused
More inSiDe
Shutdown: Storm forces closings
and cancellations. A-3
Military preparation: Four ships
and thousands of troops get ready
for catastrophe. B-6
Early hit: Jacksonville businesses
are already feeling effects of
Hurricane Irma. D-1
Schedule shuffle: Sports teams
cancel weekend games. C-3
55 miles northeast of San Juan,
Puerto Rico, and heading westnorthwest
at 16 mph.
The U.S. National Weather
Service said Puerto Rico had
not seen a hurricane of Irma’s
magnitude since Hurricane
San Felipe in 1928, which killed
a total of 2,748 people in Guadeloupe,
Puerto Rico, and Florida.
“We have to prepare for the
worst,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo
Rossello said. “If we
don’t, it could be devastating.”
irMA continues on A-4
massive flooding in Houston.
The House on Wednesday
overwhelmingly
passed $7.9 billion in Harvey
disaster relief as warring
Republicans and
Democrats united to help
victims of that storm in
Texas and Louisiana. The
419-3 vote sent the aid
package — likely the first
of several — to the Senate
in hopes of getting the
bill to the president before
FEMA runs out of money.
Far more money will be
needed once more complete
estimates of Harvey’s
damage are in this fall. The
Mozart Vidot takes down banners on
the light poles around EverBank Field on
Wednesday afternoon assisted by Jonathan
Correa, both from PRI Productions special
events team, in preparation for the
possibility of Hurricane Irma hitting the
area. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)
FEMA focused on Harvey aftermath as Irma looms
Pat Reynolds sorts through books that were damaged by
floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey inside her home in
Spring, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
storm’s wrath could end up
exceeding the $110 billion
federal cost of recovery
from Hurricane Katrina in
2005.
That year was perhaps
the last time FEMA faced
as tough a test — when
hurricanes Katrina and
Rita struck within weeks
of each other. The agency’s
widely criticized response
to the then-unprecedented
flooding in New Orleans
became a major embarrassment
for the Bush administration.
Despite years
of post-recession funding
cuts during the Obama
administration, FEMA’s
leaders worked to streamline
and consolidate operations,
cutting costs while
maintaining staffing levels.
Still, top officials tried to
offer reassurance Wednesday.
FEMA continues on A-4
Weather
Cool front
Forecast on A-2
84 73
today's
high
Friday
morning's
low
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NO. 250
152ND YEAR
5 SECTIONS
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H
Friday
September 8, 2017
$2
“The track looks like Matthew, but it is not Matthew. ... If you are leaving, leave now.”
Atlantic Beach Mayor Mitch Reeves
IRMA ‘IS A DANGEROUS STORM’
Nations rush
to aid islands
devastated
by hurricane
By Evens Sanon & Danica Coto
Associated press
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI |
French, British and Dutch
military authorities rushed
aid to a devastated string of
Caribbean islands Thursday
after Hurricane Irma
left at least 11 people dead
and thousands homeless as
it spun toward Florida for
what could be a catastrophic
blow this weekend.
Warships and planes
were dispatched with food,
water and troops after the
fearsome Category 5 storm
smashed homes, schools
and roads, laying waste to
some of the world’s most
beautiful and exclusive
tourist destinations.
Hundreds of miles to the
west, Florida braced for the
onslaught, with forecasters
warning Irma could
slam headlong into the Miami
metropolitan area of 6
million people, punish the
entire length of the state’s
Atlantic coast, and move
into Georgia and South
Carolina.
More than a half-million
people in Miami-Dade
County were ordered to
leave as Irma closed in
with winds of 175 mph.
“Take it seriously because
this is the real deal,”
said Maj. Jeremy DeHart,
an Air Force Reserve
weather officer who flew
through the eye of Irma at
10,000 feet.
By late Thursday afternoon,
the hurricane was
north of the Dominican
Republic and Haiti, where
authorities reported some
flooding and building
damage, but no deaths. Big
waves smashed a dozen
homes into rubble in the
Dominican fishing community
of Nagua, but work
crews said all the residents
had left before the storm.
About a million people
were without power in
Puerto Rico after Irma
sideswiped the island overnight
and nearly half the
territory’s hospitals were
relying on generators. No
injuries were reported.
The first islands hit by
the storm were scenes of
terrible destruction.
French Prime Minister
Edouard Philippe said four
people were confirmed
dead and about 50 injured
on the French side of St.
Martin, an island split be-
iSLANDS continues on A-4
Quinton White, executive director of
Jacksonville University’s new Marine
Science Research Institute, cautions
tide stages will impact flooding when
Hurricane Irma comes to Northeast
Florida. But tides vary greatly from
municipality to municipality along the
area’s waterways. (Florida Times-Union)
Significant damage was reported on the island of St. Maarten. Irma cut a path of devastation across the northern Caribbean,
leaving thousands homeless after destroying buildings and uprooting trees. (Gerben Van Es/Dutch Defense Ministry)
Local officials warn: Take this storm seriously
By Nate Monroe
nate.monroe@jacksonville.com
A chorus of calls from
public officials in Northeast
Florida for stormweary
residents to take
Hurricane Irma seriously
became more urgent
Thursday afternoon, when
forecasters shifted the
path of the powerful storm
west, predicting the tropical
leviathan could menace
nearly all of the populous
peninsula before hitting
the First Coast on Monday
as a still-potent hurricane.
Mayor Lenny Curry is
virtually certain to issue
mandatory evacuation orders
Friday for the Beaches
and for neighborhoods
along the St. Johns River,
as well as for residents living
in mobile homes and in
low-lying areas. Thirteen
shelters are opening Friday
morning.
Evacuations had already
begun in St. Johns County,
where officials issued a
mandatory evacuation order
for Saturday starting at
6 a.m. in zones that include
the entire city of St. Augustine,
the town of Hastings
and people who live on waterfront
property within
certain evacuation zones.
The latest forecast
shows that Irma, a Category
5 storm with sustained
Workers from Robert’s Tree Service take down an oak
Thursday in the San Jose neighborhood in preparation for
Hurricane Irma. (Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union)
winds of 175 mph, could
make an almost direct hit
on Miami as a major storm
Sunday, then travel north
on a path nearly in sync
with Interstate 95, passing
over Jacksonville.
At this point in the storm
track, the margin of error
is about 175 miles, so there
is plenty of time for the
storm to shift.
The National Weather
Service said Irma could
still be a Category 2 storm
or stronger when it reaches
Jacksonville, and remain
a strong Category 1 as it
moves into southern Georgia.
The current path “brings
it dangerously close to the
region, possibly as a major
hurricane,” the Jacksonville
office of the National
Weather Service said in its
Thursday evening briefing.
Irma could bring sustained
winds of 100 to 110
mph and gusts of up to 120
mph to Northeast Florida,
“life-threatening” storm
surge along the Atlantic
and rivers, and “destructive
wave action” of 10 to 15 feet.
On its current track, forecasters
said tropical-force
winds could reach Northeast
Florida by Sunday
afternoon, with the storm
passing through Monday
and reaching Georgia by
about 2 p.m.
A different kind of storm
will hit Jacksonville before
Irma arrives, as millions of
South Florida residents hit
the road to escape Irma’s
wrath.
STorM continues on A-4
more inside
Taking advantage:
Price-gouging
hotline reports
record number of
complaints. B-1
Man’s best friends:
Humane Society
relocates animals. B-1
Closings and
cancellations:
Hurricane Irma
affects operations
and schedules. B-2
Costly to farmers:
Storm threatens $1.2
billion of Florida’s
crops. B-3
Time to go: Georgia
governor orders
mandatory evacuation
of coastal areas. B-6
Seeking safe
harbor: Mayport
fishing vessels dock
downtown. D-1
Gasoline shortage:
Area gas stations
report they are low on
fuel. D-1
Game changer:
Gators, Seminoles
cancel Saturday
football games. C-1
note to
readers
While the precise
path of Hurricane
Irma remains
uncertain, it seems
likely the storm and
resulting evacuation
orders will impact
delivery of The
Florida Times-Union
on Monday and
Tuesday. All editions
will be delivered
when conditions
make it safe to do
so. For the area’s
most comprehensive
coverage of
Irma, find us at
Jacksonville.com,
and on Facebook and
Twitter.
Tides to play key role in flood damage from hurricane
By Drew Dixon
drew.dixon@jacksonville.com
A man waded through flood water as he checked out the damage
to St. Augustine from Hurricane Matthew. The National Hurricane
Center has since introduced a new, sleeker “cone of uncertainty”
forecasting system. (File/Associated Press)
The water damage locally
from Hurricane Irma will depend
somewhat on the timing
of its arrival here, but one thing
is certain: The storm surge will
be made worse by the phase of
the moon.
The current full moon causes
unusually high tides known as
a King Tide. While the moon
will begin to wane by the time
Irma arrives, it will still create
higher tides than normal.
The National Weather Service
has warned Northeast
Florida residents that “Regardless
of the ultimate track
of Hurricane Irma, due to the
combination of above normal
astronomical tides and expected
large wave action, additional
damage is likely to beaches
and structures along the immediate
coast, and especially
those damaged by Hurricane
Matthew.”
The Weather Service briefing
at noon Thursday noted
Jacksonville’s tide levels “are
already about half to 1 foot below
minor flooding, even before
any water level rises from
Irma’s winds and waves.”
Quinton White, executive
director of the Marine Science
Research Institute at Jacksonville
University, said, “It’s
going to have an impact, definitely.”
White added storm surges
— water pushed ashore by the
storm — will vary widely by location
as well as the tide conditions
at the location when the
storm arrives there.
“The tide is going to play a
huge role in how much flooding
we have,” White said.
“It’s all going to be based on
TiDES continues on A-4
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Forecast on A-2
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eason | Go in-depth with Fact Check, Reason columns, Sound Off and more
H
Saturday
September 9, 2017
$2
Hurricane irma
FLORIDIANS FLEE STORM
Patsy Bishop, owner of Shorelines in Neptune Beach, prepares the windows of her business for installation of storm panels on Friday in
advance of Hurricane Irma. Storm effects are expected to be felt starting Sunday night, forecasters say. (Bob Mack/Florida Times-Union)
Caribbean residents
are left reeling over
storm’s destruction
By Desmond Boylan & Ben Fox
Associated press
CAIBARIEN, CuBA | Hurricane
Irma scraped Cuba’s
northern coast Friday on
a course toward Florida,
leaving in its deadly
wake a ravaged string of
Caribbean resort islands
strewn with splintered
lumber, corrugated metal
and broken concrete.
The death toll in the
Caribbean stood at 21 and
was expected to rise as
rescuers reached some
of the hardest-hit areas.
And a new danger lay on
the horizon to the east:
Hurricane Jose, a Category
4 storm with 150 mph
winds that could punish
some of the devastated
areas all over again.
“I don’t think it takes a
rocket scientist to know
that further damage is
imminent,” said Inspector
Frankie Thomas of
the Royal Police Force of
Antigua and Barbuda.
Irma weakened from a
Category 5 to a still-fearsome
Category 4 on Friday
morning with winds
of 155 mph.
The hurricane
smashed homes, schools,
stores, roads and boats on
Wednesday and Thursday
as it rolled over some
of the world’s most famous
beach paradises,
including St. Martin, St.
Barts, St. Thomas, Barbuda
and Anguilla.
It knocked out power,
water and telephone service,
trapped thousands
of tourists, and stripped
the trees of leaves, leaving
an eerie, blasted-looking
landscape. Authorities
reported looting and
gunfire in St. Martin, and
a curfew was imposed in
the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In heavily damaged
Barbuda, Stevet Jeremiah’s
2-year-old son was
swept to his death after
the hurricane ripped the
roof off her house and
St. Johns County residents wait for the arrival of sandbags at Mills Field off
Racetrack Road early Friday as those who had their own bags start filling them.
The county dropped off a load of dirt at the sandbagging site Friday morning.
The line for sandbags and sand started forming before 7 a.m. as residents began
preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irma. (Bob Self/Florida Times-Union)
more inSide
Hurricane history:
Mass evacuations
reminiscent of Floyd. C-1
Get out, but stay
close: Wary of gridlock,
officials suggest staying
at local shelters. C-1
Uninsured: Fewer First
Coast homeowners have
flood policies than last
year. C-1
note to readers
Due to the expected impact of Hurricane Irma, the Times-
Union is evacuating its staff from its 1 Riverside Ave.
facilities on Saturday.
The Times-Union will be printed and delivered to
subscribers late Saturday. Sunday advertising inserts will
either be in Saturday’s or Sunday’s paper.
Subscribers will receive their Monday and Tuesday
newspapers as soon as conditions allow for safe delivery.
Reporters, photographers, editors and digital producers
are working around the clock to bring you the latest news
on Jacksonville.com and all of our social media channels.
Mayor tells
260,000
they must
evacuate
By Nate Monroe
nate.monroe@jacksonville.com
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny
Curry on Friday ordered
more than 260,000 city
residents in vulnerable areas
to flee Hurricane Irma.
He was joined by officials
in neighboring Clay, St.
Johns and Nassau counties
who are telling thousands
more to join the mass exodus
ahead of the powerful
storm projected to engulf
most of Florida over the
next several days.
Friday forecasts pushed
Irma slightly farther west
— continuing a recent
trend — showing it moving
to the Florida-Georgia line
as a tropical storm. Jacksonville
and the surrounding
region could be at risk
of experiencing the eastern
side of the storm, where
there is the greatest risk for
tornadoes.
“We expect strong Category
1 winds in a small
area near the core of the
storm and along the St.
Johns River and immediate
oceanfront,” the Jacksonville
office of the National
Weather Service said in
a Friday morning briefing,
before an afternoon
forecast pushed Irma farther
west. “A large area of
tropical storm force winds
with gusts to hurricane
intensity elsewhere,” were
forecast, along with “possibly
destructive oceanfront
surf and wave action if the
worst of the conditions
coincide with the time of
high tide.”
There was still plenty of
time for the storm’s forecasted
track to change; and
the margin of error in the
forecast was more than 100
miles.
“As with Hurricane Matthew
last year, small changes
in track may greatly influence
our ultimate wind
and storm surge impacts,”
the Weather Service said.
For South Florida, the
threat posed by Irma seems
nearly existential. Gov. Rick
Scott, who activated all
7,000 members of the Florida
Army and Air National
Guard, has urged residents
to flee or find shelter.
All internet users can access Jacksonville.com, the TimesrEELiNg
continues on A-5 Union E-Edition and Replica app free of charge.
LEAvE continues on A-5
Powerful quake rocks southern Mexico coast; at least 32 die
By Christopher Sherman
& E. Eduardo Castillo
Associated press
MEXICO CITY | One of the
most powerful earthquakes
ever recorded in Mexico
struck off the country’s
southern coast, toppling
hundreds of buildings,
triggering tsunami evacuations
and sending panicked
people fleeing into
the streets in the middle of
the night. At least 32 people
were reported killed.
The quake that hit late
Thursday was strong
enough to cause buildings
to sway violently in the
capital city more than 650
miles away. As beds banged
against walls, people still
wearing pajamas ran out of
their homes and gathered
in frightened groups.
Rodrigo Soberanes, who
lives near San Cristobal de
las Casas in Chiapas, the
state nearest the epicenter,
said his house “moved like
chewing gum.”
The furious shaking
created a second national
emergency for Mexican
agencies already bracing
for Hurricane Katia on the
other side of the country.
The system was expected
to strike the Gulf coast in
the state of Veracruz as
early Saturday as a Category
2 storm that could bring
life-threatening floods.
The worst-hit city appeared
to be Juchitan, on
the narrow waist of Oaxaca
known as the Isthmus. Video
from the scene showed
that about half of the city
hall collapsed in a pile of
rubble. Local officials said
Soldiers remove debris Friday from a partly collapsed
municipal building felled by a massive earthquake in
Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico. One of the most powerful
earthquakes to strike Mexico hit off its southern Pacific
coast, killing at least 32. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
at least 17 of the 32 dead
were in Juchitan.
The capital escaped major
damage, but the quake
terrified sleeping residents,
many of whom still
remember the catastrophic
1985 earthquake that killed
thousands and devastated
large parts of the city.
Families were jerked
awake by the howling
shriek of the capital’s seismic
alarm. Some shouted
as they dashed out of rocking
apartment buildings.
Even the iconic Angel of
Independent Monument
swayed as the quake’s
waves rolled through the
city’s soft soil.
Elsewhere, the extent
of destruction was still
emerging. Hundreds of
buildings collapsed or
were damaged, power was
cut at least briefly to more
than 1.8 million people and
authorities closed schools
Friday in at least 11 states to
check them for safety.
The earthquake hit off
Chiapas state near the
Guatemalan border with a
magnitude of 8.1 — equal
to Mexico’s strongest of the
past century. It was slightly
stronger than the 1985
quake, the U.S. Geological
Survey said.
The epicenter was in a
seismic hotspot in the Pacific
where one tectonic
plate dives under another.
These so-called subduction
zones are responsible
for producing some of the
biggest quakes in history,
including the 2011 Fukushima
disaster and the
2004 Sumatra quake that
spawned a deadly tsunami.
Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro
Murat told local
news media that at least
23 people had died in his
coastal state. Civil defense
officials said at least seven
qUAkE continues on A-5
Weather
Nor’easter
Forecast on A-2
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COPYRIGHT 2017
NO. 252
152ND YEAR
6 SECTIONS
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6 65486 00100 4

hurricaneirma | Get the latest news and updates on the storm
H
Sunday
September 10, 2017
$3
Hurricane Irma
STORM WARNING
Window to leave
is almost shut as
Irma shifts aim
to Tampa, Gulf
By Curt Anderson
& Claire Galofaro
Associated press
With the window closing fast for
anyone wanting to escape, Hurricane
Irma hurtled toward Florida Saturday
with 125 mph winds and a shifting
track that took it away from Miami
and instead threatened the Tampa area
with its first direct hit from a major
hurricane in nearly a century.
“You need to leave — not tonight,
not in an hour, right now,” Gov. Rick
Scott warned residents in the evacuation
zones ahead of the storm’s predicted
arrival on Sunday morning.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, Irma was a Category
3 hurricane centered about 145
miles southeast of Key West and moving
west at 9 mph, according to the National
Weather Service. A hurricane
warning was in effect for Fernandina
Beach southward around the peninsula
to the Aucilla River, along with
the Keys, Lake Okeechobee and Florida
Bay. A storm surge warning was
in effect for the Keys, Tampa Bay and
the coast of Florida from the Volusia/
Brevard county line all the way around
the state to the Suwanee River.
Hurricane-force winds extended
outward up to 70 miles from the center
and tropical-storm-force winds extended
outward up to 195 miles.
The Weather Service said Saturday
that, “A northwest motion is expected
to begin later today with a turn toward
the north-northwest on Sunday. On
the forecast track, the core of Irma
will continue to move near or over the
north coast of Cuba this afternoon,
and will reach the Florida Keys Sunday
morning. The hurricane is expected
to move along or near the southwest
coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.”
For days, the forecast had made it
look as if the Miami metropolitan area
of 6 million people could get hit headon
with the catastrophic and longdreaded
Big One.
The swing in the hurricane’s projected
path overnight caught many on
Florida’s Gulf coast off guard. By late
The winds and sea are whipped up off the Rickenbacker Causeway as a man and young girl cross the street hand-in-hand in
Miami as Hurricane Irma approaches Saturday. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Note to readers
Due to the expected impact
of Hurricane Irma, the
Times-Union is evacuating
its staff from its 1 Riverside
Ave. newsroom and
production facilities on
Saturday to comply with the
city’s mandatory evacuation
orders.
The Times-Union plans
to continue producing
newspapers. Subscribers
will receive their Monday
and Tuesday newspapers as
soon as conditions allow for
safe delivery.
Reporters, photographers,
editors and digital
producers are working
around the clock to bring
you the latest news on
Jacksonville.com and all of
our social media channels.
All internet users are able to
access Jacksonville.com, the
Times-Union E-Edition and
Replica app free of charge.
Battened-down Jacksonville waits
for winds, rain as hurricane nears
By Roger Bull
roger.bull@jacksonville.com
With Hurricane Irma expected
to begin its march up
Florida’s West Coast early
Sunday morning, Jacksonville
started shutting down.
Grocery stores were closing
by mid-afternoon Saturday,
with more to follow. The airport
was shutting down, so
were the city buses.
The ports in Jacksonville
and Fernandina closed first
thing Saturday morning and
the largest ships were encouraged
to leave. By noon,
it was extended up to Savannah
and Brunswick and
down to Canaveral.
With Duval County under
a hurricane warning and a
more InSIde
‘Devastating’ surge: Worst
damage could come from storm
surge in coastal areas. B-1
Still reeling: Some
homeowners haven’t fully
recovered from Matthew. B-1
Toxic waste: Flooding could
inundate Superfund sites. B-5
Addiction struggles:
Hurricanes interrupt treatment,
increasing risk of relapse. B-6
storm surge and flash flood
watch, the National Weather
Service was predicting that
winds in the Jacksonville
area would rise from 20 mph
to the low 30s on Sunday,
with gusts getting into the
low 50s. The peak winds in
the area were expected to
come Monday morning from
8 to 10 a.m. with sustained
speeds of around 51 mph
with gusts of up to 71 mph.
A mandatory evacuation
order was issued on Friday
for all residents living
in Zones A and B, affecting
more than a quarter-million
people, along with those in
mobile homes and low-lying
coastal areas. St. Johns
County ordered its own
evacuations, including the
entire city of St. Augustine.
It’s a drama that seems to
have taken so long to unfold.
For days, Floridians have
been rushing to check out
TAmpA continues on A-6 wAITS continues on A-6
Game takes on special significance for players, storm-weary fans
Jaguars, texans seek to entertain, provide sense of hope
By John Reid
john.reid@jacksonville.com
more InSIde
Do-over: Jaguars quarterback
Blake Bortles hopes to erase
his NFL past. C-1
Four-legged storm victims:
First Coast animal advocate
Rick DuCharme helps pets
displaced by Harvey. A-6
HOUSTON | After Hurricane
Harvey barreled into Texas
two weeks ago, J.J. Watt
was sitting in a Dallas hotel
room watching television
images of inundated
Houston neighborhoods
and families being rescued
by boat.
The Houston Texans defensive
end saw a city broken
and its residents hurting.
He decided to establish
a relief fund to supply food,
water and other essential
supplies to flood victims.
That fund has raised an astounding
$30.8 million.
Watt wants to give Harvey
victims in Houston a
chance to cheer, so for a
few hours they can feel at
ease and not think about
their wrecked homes and
disrupted lives.
“This is so much bigger
than a game,” Watt said.
wATT continues on A-6
Houston Texans
defensive end J.J.
Watt holds a box of
relief supplies on his
shoulder Sept. 3, when
he handed them out
to people impacted
by Hurricane Harvey.
(Brett Coomer/
Houston Chronicle)
Weather
Irma approaches
Forecast on A-2
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F
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152ND YEAR
6 SECTIONS
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6 65486 00107 3

hurricaneirma | Get the latest news and updates on the storm
I
Monday
September 11, 2017
$2
Hurricane Irma
STATEWIDE DISASTER
Widespread impact
effects extend from
Keys to Jacksonville
Already soaked
Nor’easter hits prior
to storm’s landfall
High winds
Damage likely despite
Category 2 downgrade
An American flag is torn Sunday as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples. The storm weakened to a Category 2 hurricane after making landfall as a Category 4 just after 9 a.m. at
Cudjoe Key. Forecasters said it could hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday. (David Goldman/Associated Press)
‘pray, pray for everybody
in Florida,’ Scott urges U.S.
Waterways are near cusp of
flooding before Irma skirts by
By Jennifer Kay & Freida Frisaro
Associated press
By nate monroe
nate.monroe@jacksonville.com
MIAMI | A monster Hurricane Irma roared
into Florida with 130 mph winds Sunday for
what could be a sustained assault on nearly
the entire Sunshine State, submerging streets,
knocking out power to millions and snapping
massive construction cranes over the Miami
skyline.
The 400-mile-wide storm blew ashore in
the morning in the mostly cleared-out Florida
Keys and then began a slow march up the
state’s west coast. Forecasters said it could hit
the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg
area early Monday.
“Pray, pray for everybody in Florida,” Gov.
Rick Scott said on “Fox News Sunday” as
more than 160,000 people statewide waited it
out in shelters.
Irma struck as a Category 4 but by late afternoon
had weakened to a Category 2 with
110 mph winds that whipped Florida’s palm
trees with drenching squalls. A storm surge
of over 10 feet was recorded in the Keys, and
forecasters warned some places on the mainland
could get up to 15 feet of water.
There were no immediate confirmed reports
of any deaths in Florida, on top of the
Palm Bay officer Dustin Terkoski walks over debris from a two-story home
at Palm Point Subdivision in Brevard County, after a tornado spawned by
Hurricane Irma touched down on Sunday. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel)
More InsIde
A lingering and super-charged nor’easter
left Northeast Florida wind-whipped, soaked
and with swollen waterways Sunday, hours
before the long tendrils of slow-moving Hurricane
Irma were forecast to begin lashing
the region after twilight.
The combination of the two is what concerned
public officials heading into Monday.
Irma’s projected path up the west coast has
likely spared Jacksonville the worst effects of
the behemoth storm, challenging public officials
across the region to battle complacency
among residents who still faced the potential
for severe flooding, winds and tornadoes
when Irma was forecast to unleash its force
late Sunday.
The dynamic made for an odd day.
As grim-faced city leaders got briefings
in the Emergency Operations Center downtown,
residents stocked up on last-minute
liquor and beer, topped off fuel tanks and
packed into well-known local watering holes
and diners — Players Grille on Hendricks Avenue,
Waffle House on Roosevelt Boulevard,
Kickbacks in Riverside. At Atlantic Beach,
residents crowded Beach Diner for breakfast
24 people killed during Irma’s destructive
trek across the Caribbean.
Many streets were flooded in downtown
Miami and other cities. In the low-lying Keys,
boats were reported sunk and appliances and
furniture were seen floating away, but the full
Jaguars: Jacksonville
defeats Texans 29-7 in
NFL Week 1 game. C-1
Fans: Bars are filled with
fans watching the Jaguars’
game against Houston. B-1
Shelters: Facilities in the
area attract many, but
more room remains. B-1
before heading in for the day.
The Jaguars’ surprisingly strong 29-7 win
over the Houston Texans buoyed spirits in
the afternoon.
One patron at Players Grille — where it
was so busy beer taps were running dry,
More onlIne
IrmA continues on A-4 Get the latest about damage and closures in the area. jacksonville.com/hurricaneirma HUrrICAne continues on A-4
Weather
Heavy rain and windy
Forecast on A-2
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COpYrIGHt 2017
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hurricaneirma | Get the latest news and updates on the storm
H
Tuesday
September 12, 2017
$2
Hurricane Irma
WIND AND WATER
Hurricane wreaks havoc with toppled trees, snapped power lines
Storm surge raises St. Johns to historic levels, floods heart of city
Lee Parker (left) and Laura Brewer take selfies at the Life statue in Memorial Park as waves from the St. Johns River break over the bulkhead and railing on Monday. Areas along the
river saw a storm surge between 3 and 5 feet — which means the water was 3 to 5 feet higher than normal levels during high tide. (Bruce Lipsky/Florida Times-Union)
the winds subsided
and the rain stopped.
then flooding began
By Nate Monroe
nate.monroe@jacksonville.com
Navy ships sent to
battered Keys after
scenes of devastation
By Jennifer Kay & Doug Ferguson
Associated press
By Monday afternoon, Hurricane Irma
had largely finished with Jacksonville.
Mother Nature, however, had not.
A cocktail of severe natural forces converged
in ways that turned Monday into
a slow-motion disaster for downtown,
Riverside, San Marco and other neighborhoods
throughout the city that sit along
the St. Johns River and the maze of waterways
that feed into it.
City officials begged vulnerable residents
to flee those areas in the hours before
high tide peaked in downtown at 2
p.m. — hours after the worst of Hurricane
Irma’s direct forces had ceased in the region
— and search-and-rescue crews were
still plucking people from their homes
well into the afternoon. The rush of water
into some of the city’s marquee enclaves
for arts and culture — like Riverside — as
well as many of its working-class neighborhoods
on the Northside and elsewhere
in the suburbs made for striking and
alarming imagery throughout the day.
Hurricane Dora, which hit Jacksonville
in 1964, was the city’s last great flood
event. The surge from Irma had surpassed
Charlotte Glaze gives Donna Lamb a teary hug as she floats out some of her belongings
near the intersection of Twining and Timuquana roads on Monday. “This neighborhood
has not flooded in at least 51 years,” Lamb said. (Dede Smith/Florida Times-Union)
More InsIde
Effects: Residents tell stories of flooding and the storm bringing people together. B-1
Assisted-living center: Atlantic Beach residents ride out storm at Anthem Lakes facility. B-1
College football: Florida-Tennessee game is still at issue and dependent on storm clean-up. C-1
More onlIne
Get the latest about damage and closures in the area. jacksonville.com/hurricaneirma
HUrriCANe continues on A-3 irMA continues on A-3
MIAMI | Authorities sent an aircraft carrier
and other Navy ships to Florida to help
with search-and-rescue operations Monday
as a flyover of the hurricane-battered
Keys yielded what the governor said were
scenes of devastation.
“I just hope everyone survived,” Gov.
Rick Scott said.
He said boats were cast ashore, water,
sewers and electricity were knocked out,
and “I don’t think I saw one trailer park
where almost everything wasn’t overturned.”
Authorities also struggled to
clear the single highway connecting the
string of islands to the mainland.
The scale of the damage inflicted by
Irma on Sunday began to come into focus
as the hurricane weakened to a tropical
storm and finally pushed its way out of
Florida, but not before dealing a parting
shot by triggering severe flooding around
Jacksonville in the state’s northeastern
corner.
Around midday, Irma also spread misery
into Georgia and South Carolina as it
moved inland with winds at 50 mph.
One death in Florida, that of a man killed
Weather
Lots of water
Forecast on A-2
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sports | Get the latest news on Jaguars, Gators and Seminoles
H
Wednesday
September 13, 2017
$2
Hurricane Irma
THE MORNING AFTER
Fallen trees,
flooding stun
some parts
of city, region
By Nate Monroe
nate.monroe@jacksonville.com
A local politician once infamously said
the story of Jacksonville is really a tale of
two cities. On Tuesday — one day after
Hurricane Irma pushed water into places
it hadn’t been in at least 150 years, destroying
homes with flood waters and debris —
that was true.
Five Points in Riverside looked Tuesday
like the burgeoning restaurant-and-bar
district it’s been known as for years —
customers likely had to wait for seats.
Just a few blocks away, water-logged
streets remained evidence that something
had gone terribly wrong in the city.
“This storm has conquered me,” one
resident said, reflecting on the damage
flood waters brought to his home on the
corner of Copeland Street and River Boulevard.
Recovery from Hurricane Irma will
mean different things to different people
in Jacksonville, and in the region around
it.
Flooding caused such catastrophic
damage in the North and South Prongs of
Black Creek — rural communities in Clay
County — it stunned longtime residents
and left county officials still unable to provide
an assessment of how extensive the
wreckage is.
Some homes that didn’t flood were
wrecked by fallen trees.
The storm knocked out power to more
than a quarter million JEA customers,
and the utility’s efforts to restore it will
be closely watched and scrutinized in the
coming days — particularly by residents
whose homes lack power despite sustain-
rECovEry continues on A-4
Lisa Darenberg and her son Robert Darenberg clean his first-floor apartment on Cherry Street in Riverside that was inundated with
flood waters from the St. Johns River. (Bruce Lipsky/Florida Times-Union)
Millions without power in state;
food, water, fuel in short supply
FEMA says Irma destroyed one in four homes in Key West. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
FEMA: 1 in 4 Keys homes destroyed;
massive relief, recovery effort begins
By Jason Dearen
& Martha Mendoza
Associated press
LOWER MATECUMBE KEY |
Search-and-rescue teams
made their way into the
Florida Keys’ farthest
reaches Tuesday, while authorities
rushed to repair
the lone highway connecting
the islands and deliver
aid to Hurricane Irma’s
victims. Federal officials
estimated one-quarter of
all homes in the Keys were
destroyed.
Two days after Irma
roared into the island
chain with 130 mph winds,
residents were allowed to
return to the parts of the
Keys closest to Florida’s
mainland.
But the full extent of
the death and destruction
there remained a question
mark because cellphone
service was disrupted and
some places were inaccessible.
“It’s going to be pretty
hard for those coming
home,” said Petrona Hernandez,
whose concrete
home on Plantation Key
with 35-foot walls was unscathed,
unlike others a
few blocks away. “It’s going
to be devastating to them.”
Elsewhere in Florida, life
inched closer to normal,
with some flights again
taking off, many curfews
lifted and major theme
parks reopening. Cruise
ships that extended their
voyages and rode out the
storm at sea began returning
to port with thousands
of passengers.
The number of people
without electricity in the
steamy late-summer heat
dropped to around 10 million
— half of Florida’s
population. Utility officials
warned it could take
10 days or more for power
to be fully restored. About
110,000 people remained in
shelters across Florida.
The number of deaths
blamed on Irma in Florida
climbed to 12, in addition to
four in South Carolina and
two in Georgia. At least 37
people were killed in the
Caribbean.
“We’ve got a lot of work
to do, but everybody’s going
to come together,” Florida
Gov. Rick Scott said.
“We’re going to get this
state rebuilt.”
In hard-hit Naples, on
By Tia Mitchell
tia.mitchell@jacksonville.com
Alfonso Jose pulls his son Alfonso Jr., 2, in a cooler with
his wife, Cristina Ventura, as they wade through their
flooded street to reach an open convenience store in
Bonita Springs. (David Goldman/Associated Press)
TALLAHASSEE | Millions of
Florida utility customers
still don’t have power and
in many parts of the state
food, water and fuel are
scarce. These are the effects
of Hurricane Irma
that Florida responders are
now working to address.
“I know everyone is going
to work hard to try to
get this state back to normal
as fast as we can, to
get the schools back open,
to get people back to normalcy
as soon as possible,”
Gov. Rick Scott told reporters
Tuesday during a visit
to the state Emergency Operations
Center.
Scott boarded a Black
Hawk helicopter in Jacksonville
Tuesday and
toured Hurricane Irma
damage in Duval and St.
Johns counties before returning
to the Tallahassee
EOC to thank staffers,
many of whom have
worked long hours and
sometimes overnight shifts
for several days. Afterward,
he left for Southwest
Florida to tour more areas
ravaged by the storm.
The EOC is staffed by
state and federal agencies,
meteorologists, military
personnel, non-profit organizations
like the Red
Cross and even private
businesses who have a
hand in responding during
times of natural disasters.
In Florida, that usually
means a hurricane has impacted
the state.
What made Irma especially
devastating was its
size. Nearly all of Florida
— the entire peninsula and
parts of the Panhandle —
was impacted. That made
preparing for the storm
and the recovery now underway
more difficult, the
governor said.
“One thing that hurt us
a little bit in the beginning
was the storm was coming
up the state and you
couldn’t pre-position all
the assets you want,” Scott
said. “If it had been in one
coast or the other, it would
tained more damage than
necessitating a shift of
Florida, Scott said. Even
President Donald Trump
appeared to take notice,
posting on Twitter about
“The devastation left by
Hurricane Irma was far
greater, at least in certain
thought — but amazing
have been a little bit easier.”
Jacksonville also sus-
forecasters predicted,
resources to Northeast
recovery efforts.
locations, than anyone
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Coastal flooding
Forecast on A-2
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152ND YEAR
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THE BIG
PICTURE
While Hurricane Irma’s
wrath was felt throughout
Jacksonville and the First
Coast — from flooded homes
and extensive power outages
to debris-lined streets and
cars covered in water — few
scenes from the storm were
more iconic than that of
Riverside’s Memorial Park,
where the St. Johns River
was pushed from its banks,
swallowing much of the
1920s concrete balustrade
lining the the park’s southern
boundary. On Monday, Sept.
11, waves from Irma crashed
in what was normally a
serene setting as renowned
sculptor C. Adrian Pillars’
22-foot tall bronze statue —
aptly titled “Life” — stood as
a beacon of resolve in an
otherwise apolalyptic
setting.
PHOTOGRAPH BY
BRUCE LIPSKY
THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION

#JacksonvilleStrong
#WhyWeStay
Even when the winds whip and the waters rise, even when
the newsroom is evacuated and the presses silenced,
our journalists stay on the job. We stay because this
community deserves the information it needs to stay safe.
We stay because the news comes first. We stay because we care,
and because we live here, too. Our jobs don’t stop when
disasters strike; they become more important than ever.
In times of crisis and times of calm, we stay.
COVERING THE FIRST COAST FOR MORE THAN 150 YEARS