Irma Hurricane Leaves Florida in Ruin, Kills More on Its Way

Local Editor

Floridians return to shattered homes as the remnants of Hurricane Irma push inland, leaving more than half of the state's residents without power, city streets underwater and killing four more people as it hits Georgia and South Carolina.

Hurricane Irma weakened to a still-deadly tropical storm as it swirled beyond Florida Monday, killing at least three people in Georgia, flooding the coast, sending trees crashing onto homes and forcing the world's busiest airport in Atlanta to cancel hundreds of flights.

The former hurricane remained an immense, 415-mile wide storm as its center moved on from Florida Monday afternoon, giving its still-formidable gusts and drenching rains a far reach.

Some 540,000 people were ordered to evacuate days earlier from Savannah and the rest of Georgia's coast. Irma sent 4 feet of ocean water into downtown Charleston, South Carolina, as the storm's center passed 250 miles away.

City officials urged residents to stay off the streets as 3 feet of water above dry ground is expected overnight.

In Atlanta, people nervously watched towering oak trees as the city, 250 miles inland, experienced its first tropical storm warning.

The tidal surge sent damaged boats rushing more than three blocks onto downtown streets in St. Mary's, just north of the Georgia-Florida state line, St. Mary's Police Lt. Shannon Brock said.

Downtown Atlanta hotels remained full of evacuees. Many milled about the CNN Center, escaping crowded hotel rooms in search of open restaurants. Many were glued to storm coverage on the atrium's big screen. Parents pointed out familiar sites, now damaged, to their children.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team