Florida Without Power: Irma After Effect

Even as Irma was downgraded from a Category 3 hurricane to a tropical storm, millions remained without power, while the police and the National Guard carried out search-and-rescue operations across the state. Many areas faced fuel shortages, as well as downed power lines and standing water. Fallen trees, ripped from their roots by surging waters and whipping winds that reached 130 miles per hour, blocked roadways — further hampering the recovery.

While Texas residents were still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, two weeks later on Sunday, Hurricane Irma made landfall on America’s southeastern state of Florida causing widespread damage to property, businesses, and crops, and taking the lives of at least four people.

As the overall impact of Hurricane Irma on the country is yet to be assessed, analysts predict that the effect of the hurricane on the US economy would be significant ranging from $150 billion to $300 billion.

Tourism, the state’s largest industry, also faces major disruptions. Florida had 112.4 million out-of-state and international visitors last year and tourism generated $90 billion in economic activity.

The strength of a hurricane is determined by three main factors: water temperature, wind shear, and moisture in the atmosphere. Warmer water and atmospheric moisture give the system energy. A low wind shear — i.e., sharp changes in wind directions as you go higher and higher in the atmosphere — keeps a hurricane from dissipating.

Within the past two weeks, two other storms — Katia and Jose — have achieved hurricane status in the Atlantic and Gulf. And what are we to make of the fact that three hurricanes are currently active at the same time?

This is always a tricky question when it comes to hurricanes. These storms are powerful, but they’re not necessarily much more powerful than storms we’ve seen in the past. Also, meteorologists have only been tracking hurricanes by satellite since the 1970s. Hurricanes have ravaged the Atlantic coast for hundreds of thousands of years. Scientists are still figuring out what, exactly, is normal.

Crude oil price weakens on fears Hurricane Irma could dent US demand. Brent crude oil futures for November delivery were down 33 cents at $53.45 a barrel while benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced by 22 cents to $47.70. Hurricane Irma knocked out power to nearly four million Florida homes and businesses on Sunday after millions were told to evacuate ahead of the storm.

Irma's rampage across Florida broke records in Jacksonville before heading north to torment Georgia and beyond. Jacksonville, the largest city geographically in the country, is grappling with a record storm surge and immense flooding. The city's Memorial Park has turned into an unrecognizable lake.

More than 6.2 million electric customers are without power in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott's office said Monday. FEMA chief Brock Long has said some places won't have electricity for weeks. The massive storm triggered evacuation orders for 5.6 million people before it made two landfalls in the state Sunday. The first was over the Florida Keys, and the second, over Marco Island, left the island without water and power, authorities said.

People move through flooded streets in Havana, Cuba on Sunday. Residents of the historic capital were waist-deep in floodwaters after Hurricane Irma swept by on its way to Florida, cutting off power and forcing the evacuation of more than 1m people. The powerful storm ripped roofs off houses, collapsed buildings and flooded hundreds of miles of coastline after leaving a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. Before slamming into to the United States, Irma hit Cuba late Friday as a Category 5 hurricane. It killed at least 26 people before leaving the Caribbean for Florida. This is the first year on record that the continental United States has had two Category 4 hurricane landfalls in the same year. Last month, Hurricane Harvey devastated much of coastal Texas and killed more than 70 people.