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Hurricane Irma Heading towards Tampa with Risk of Life-Threatening Surges

Hurricane Irma Heading towards Tampa with Risk of Life-Threatening Surges
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Local Editor

Hurricane Irma is now moving up the west coast of Florida but has been downgraded to a category 2 storm with winds of 105mph.

Hurricane Irma Heading towards Tampa with Risk of Life-Threatening Surges

Irma is moving northwards between Lakeland and Tampa, according to the latest update from the hurricane center, "lashing" central Florida as it goes.

The update gives the location of the center of the storm, indicating that it has veered north-northwest in the past hour as forecast earlier.

Meanwhile, although the strength of the storm has dropped to category 2 the threat from storm surges remains and the critical point at St Petersburg could come at 5.30am at high tide.

Irma raked the northern coast of Cuba on Saturday night, early Sunday, causing flooding and widespread damage.

But that doesn't seem to have dampened the party spirit of thousands of holidaymakers caught up in the drama, according to AP in the resort town of Varadero.

For its part, the financial markets in Asia brushed aside any concerns about a possible drag on the US economy from the superstorm.

Estimates reckon that the storm could cost $300bn in cleanup and insurance claims, and also impact US food prices because of Florida's position as the second-largest produce grower in the US and the world's second-largest producer of orange juice.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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