Irma updates: Irma leaves path of flooding and damage

UPDATED GALLERY: Must-see photos of Irma damage in Jacksonville area

PHOTOS: Flooded streets in Jacksonville, beaches

FACEBOOK: Live storm feeds, updates, stories, photos 

TWITTER: Latest on Jacksonville, St. Augustine preparations

5 p.m. Tuesday: Officials are warning people not to play in Hurricane Irma floodwaters after a rise in snake bites. 

Officials said the water may also contain fecal matter, which can cause people to get sick.

12:45 p.m. Tuesday: Incredible chopper video shows several homes destroyed by Hurricane Irma. Watch here.

11:30 a.m. Tuesday: All St. Johns County bridges have reopened, officials said. Garbage collection information has also been released. Read here.

8 a.m. Tuesday: Mayor Lenny Curry has lifted a mandatory evacuation order in Jacksonville.

He said at a press conference that significant progress on power restoration was made throughout the night.

Thirty-two percent of JEA customers are still without power.

Water distribution begins Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Locations:

• Hobby Lobby, 14286 Beach Blvd #1, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
• McDonald's, 5801 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207
• Edward Waters College, 1658 Kings Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32209
• Supervisor of Elections, 1 Imeson Park Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32218

10:56 p.m. Monday update: Jacksonville native and professional athlete Tim Tebow visited people staying at the shelter at Landmark Middle School to lift their spirits.

6:50 p.m. Monday update: Jacksonville International Airport will reopen Tuesday.

6:45 p.m. Monday update: Many of Jacksonville's bridges have reopened including bridges to the beaches and the Hart and Acosta Bridge. The Dames Point, Fuller Warren and Buckman bridges are open and the Main Street bridge is open eastbound only.

5:53 p.m. Monday update: Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels tells Action News Jax news partner WOKV that they are searching for a man who was swept away in Black Creek.

5:51 p.m. Monday update: Action News Jax's Lorena Inclan reported from the historic district in St. Augustine, where there was widespread street flooding.

4:41 p.m. Monday update: CBS News' David Begnaud joined Action News Jax's Russell Colburn in surveying flooding from the St. Johns River in Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood.

4 p.m. Monday update: Danielle Avitable is down in South Ponte Vedra Beach and Vilano Beach in St. Johns County surveying damage. Some homes are badly damaged and some homes have fallen off the edge of cliffs.

3 p.m. Monday update: School districts have announced additional cancelations because of widespread Hurricane Irma damage.

People who live on St. Johns County beaches and barrier islands are not expected to be able to return to their homes until bridges open on Tuesday, at the earliest.

Jacksonville bridge updates here.

2 p.m. Monday update: Action News Jax has crews in the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Irma: St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra beaches and Riverside and downtown. Watch live coverage.

1 p.m. Monday update: The Buckman Bridge and the Dames Point Bridge, two of the most widely-used bridges in the region and two key cogs of I-295, have been reopened, JSO said.

High waters around the St. Johns River forced some residents to leave. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office warned people in evacuation zones A and B along the St. Johns River to "Get out NOW."

They say river is at historic flood levels and likely to get worse at high tide around 2 p.m.

On its Facebook page, the sheriff's office told those who need help evacuating to "put a white flag in front of your house. A t-shirt, anything white."

Rescue teams were ready to deploy.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gave a briefing where he stressed the importance of residents being deliberate in their actions and told those needing help evacuating home to call 904-630-CITY -- or put a white flag outside of their homes.

Read more from the briefing here.

8:00 a.m. Monday update: Irma has weakened to a tropical storm but is still producing wind gusts near hurricane-force.

Maximum sustained winds are at 70 miles per hour.

Irma has a very large wind field. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles mainly to the west of the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 415 miles.

On the forecast track, the center of Irma will move near the northwestern coast of the Florida Peninsula this morning, cross the eastern Florida Panhandle into southern Georgia this afternoon, and move through
southwestern Georgia and eastern Alabama tonight and Tuesday.

6:59 a.m. Monday update: Flash Flood Emergency for downtown Jacksonville. Water is expected to rise another 1 to 2 feet when winds switch to the south and push water northward into downtown JAX.

5:48 a.m. Monday update: Storm Surge Flooding exceeds all-time record in downtown Jacksonville record set in Hurricane Dora in 1964 of 4.12 feet. Reported level is 4.39 feet currently.

5 a.m. Monday update: Hurricane Irma now a weaker Category 1 with 75 mph hour winds moving at 18 mph.

4:13 a.m. Monday update: Flash Flood Warning for Charlton, Duval, and Nassau County until 7:15am

2:25 a.m. Monday update: The Hart, Mathews, and Acosta Bridges are now closed.

2 a.m. Monday update: There is a tornado warning for Nassau County until 2:30a.m. Tornado watches will be in effect for the entire area until mid-morning.

1:02 a.m. Monday update: The Buckman Bridge is closed.

12:32 a.m. Monday update: Dames Pointe Bridge is now closed due to wind speeds.

12:24 a.m. Monday update: Putnam County Emergency Management reports flooding of a nursing home in Palatka with evacuations ordered. Patients are being transported to a nearby hospital.

Areal Flood Warning for Bradford, Clay, Putnam and St. Johns counties until 3:30 a.m. Monday.

12 a.m. Monday update: A tornado watch has been issued for Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia until 11 a.m. Monday.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Florida and Georgia until 11 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/tYeOQUxybN

— NWS Jacksonville (@NWSJacksonville) September 11, 2017

11:30 p.m. Sunday update: Hurricane warnings in effect for Charlton, Pierce, Camden and Baker counties.

11 p.m. Sunday update: Areal Flood Warning for Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties until 5 a.m. Monday.

10:26 p.m. Sunday update: A flash flooding warning is in effect for Jacksonville until 1:30 a.m. Monday.

10 p.m. Sunday update: The center of Hurricane Irma is just over 200 miles South South-East of Jacksonville. The hurricane is still a Category 2 with maximum wind speed of 105 mph. The storm is traveling at 14 mph.

9:32 p.m. Sunday update: Tornado reported in St. Augustine

“It sounded like a massive train going through. We really didn’t know what the hell happened,” a woman who was home at the time said. “Thank God we are alive.”

7:44 p.m. Sunday update: St. Johns and Flagler counties are under a tornado warning until 8:15 p.m.

7:36 p.m. Sunday update: Several St. Johns County bridges are closing ahead of Hurricane Irma's local impacts. Officials have ordered the closing of the Usina Vilano Bridge, Bridge of Lions, O'Connell 312 Bridge, SR 206 Bridge, Shands Bridge and Palm Valley Bridge.

Officials said they will remain closed for an extended period of time until the barrier islands have been assessed and the Florida Department of Transportation deems the bridges safe for vehicular traffic.

6 p.m. Sunday update: Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Sunday that it is time to stay in your safe place as Jacksonville braces for heavy rain and strong winds beginning late Sunday night.

Irma is currently a Category 2 hurricane traveling north at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds at 110 mph.

Curry said the city is already seeing the effects of Irma with signs of flooding.

Jacksonville is expected to see storm surge between 3 to 5 feet along the coastline.

Sunday night, there will be high tide along the coastline and river from midnight to 2 a.m.

A tornado watch is in effect until midnight and residents should be on standby for tornado warnings. People need to continue to be on standby for flash flood warnings.

Irma continues to move north and could be a Category 1 or Category 2 by the time it reaches the Jacksonville area.

Irma's wind field is large and moving its way up the Florida peninsula.

Jacksonville should anticipate sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts up to 70 mph.

Sheriff Mike Williams said JSO is continuing to monitor the bridges. Bridges will close if there is sustained winds of 40 mph. Bridges will likely be closed for up to 12 hours or until the storm passes.

5:31 p.m. update: President Donald Trump said Florida was a "major disaster." and has ordered federal aid to the state to assist in Irma-related efforts.

5 p.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma is now a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds at 110 miles per hour as it moves north across the state of Florida.

Irma is moving toward the north at 14 miles per hour. It is expected to begin a north-northwestward motion with an increase in forward speed by Sunday night.

On the current forecast track, Irma's eye should move near or over the west coast of the Florida Peninsula through Monday morning then it will move inland over northern Florida and southwestern Georgia Monday afternoon.

4:48 p.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma could cut the power to as many as 3 million Florida Power & Light customers before the storm is done with Florida, FPL officials said Sunday morning in a 40-minute briefing meeting at the company's command center.

Outages stood at 2,010,240 customer accounts — or about 4 million people — at 1:45 p.m. Sunday and were expected to increase throughout the day. Including more than 339,000 customers whose power was at some point restored, outages have affected about 2.25 million accounts, or 4 million people in FPL's 35-county territory. Read full story here.

CHECK THE LATEST NUMBER OF JEA OUTAGES HERE | CHECK THE LATEST NUMBER OF FPL OUTAGES HERE

4:43 p.m. Sunday update: The center of Hurricane Irma has moved inland about 10 miles southeast of Naples, the National Hurricane Center said.

It is moving north at 12 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 115 mph, making it a Category 3 storm.

Naples is the home of Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

“It’s clear that the entire country is standing with Florida as Hurricane Irma batters our state right now, ” Scott said in a statement. “I have heard from people all across the world that want to help and support Florida. It’s encouraging, and on behalf of all Floridians – we appreciate the support and constant collaboration.”

President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration, Scott’s office said. The declaration authorizes federal funding to flow directly to Floridians impacted by Hurricane Irma and reimburses local communities and the state government to aid in response and recovery from Hurricane Irma.

4 p.m Sunday update: Hurricane Irma made landfall for the second time in Florida -- this time in Marco Island. Twitter video showed its fury:

2 p.m. Sunday Irma update: The storm has dropped down to a Category 3. Winds are now at 120 mph. The storm is moving directly north at 12 mph. Here is the latest track. 

VIDEOS: Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida Keys

12:05 p.m. Sunday update: Duval is under a Tornado Watch.

11 a.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma's track has shifted east slightly, moving at 9 mph with winds at 130 mph.

8 a.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma still a Category 4 storm after making landfall in the Keys moving at 8 mph with 130 mph winds.

The storm has an increase in forward speed expected for later today, which will continue through Monday.

The eye of Irma should move over the Lower Florida Keys shortly, and then move near or over the west coast of the Florida Peninsula later today through tonight.

7 a.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma's made landfall in the Florida Keys.

5 a.m. Sunday update: Hurricane Irma's track continues to shift west as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph.

Hurricane Irma remains a dangerous storm as it approaches Florida. It has left a path of destruction in the Caribbean, and Florida has taken heed by evacuating millions.

4 a.m. Sunday update: The eye of Hurricane Irma is less than 40 miles from Key West and wind gusts are above 75 mph. Irma is a Category 4 hurricane.

2 a.m. Sunday update: The National Hurricane center has upgraded Hurricane Irma to a Category four storm with winds at 130 mph, moving at 6 mph North West towards the Keys.

12 a.m. Sunday update: The National Hurricane Center says Irma's projected path is continuing to shift to the west, just a few crucial miles, that should keep its eye just off Florida's west coast on a track to hit St. Petersburg, not Miami or even Tampa.Irma is moving at 6 mph with sustained winds of 120 mph.

11 p.m. Saturday update: Hurricane Irma shifts west as it moves at 6 mph with sustained winds of 120 mph.

8 p.m. Saturday update: Irma slows down as it travels 7 mph. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.

5 p.m. Saturday update: Irma is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph. A northwest motion is expected to begin tonight with a turn toward the north-northwest on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center reported.

Irma will continue to move near the north coast of Cuba during the next few hours and will reach the Florida Keys Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center reported.

The hurricane is expected to move along or near the southwest coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.

Irma is expected to restrengthen once it moves away from Cuba and remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida.

4 p.m. Saturday update: Hurricane Irma still a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph.

2 p.m. Saturday update: Hurricane Irma remains a powerful Category 3 storm. It is moving west along the north coast of Cuba at 9 mph.

It is expected to make a northwest turn on Saturday and approach the Florida Keys on Sunday.

Irma is forecast to restrengthen once it moves away from Cuba. It is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida. A NOAA plane is airborne en route to investigate Irma.

11 a.m. Saturday update: Our area is under a hurricane warning as Irma approaches Florida as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 125 mph.

The hurricane warning is in effect for Duval, Nassau, Clay, Columbia, Baker, Bradford and Putnam counties.

TALKING THE TROPICS: Irma may hit Cuba before turning north towards Florida

Counties north of Nassau County are under a hurricane watch.

The eye of Hurricane Irma is near the north coast of Cuba.

Irma is expected to begin a northwest motion later today with a turn toward the north/northwest on Sunday.

On the current track, Irma will reach the Florida Keys Sunday morning.

The hurricane is expected to move along or near the southwest coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.

10 a.m. Saturday update: Gov. Rick Scott is warning people to leave now if they are in an evacuation zone as Florida begins to feel the effects of Hurricane Irma.

"This is a deadly storm and our state has never seen anything like it," Scott said. "Millions of Floridians will see major hurricane impacts and deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds."

Scott said at a Saturday press conference that 25,000 people have already lost power as Irma's winds begin to affect southeast Florida.

More than 50,000 people are already at shelters in Florida, and 70 more shelters are expected to open Saturday.

More from Scott's press conference.

8 a.m. Saturday update: The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning that the eye of Hurricane Irma is moving west at 12 mph over Cuba's northern coast.

Although Cuba's terrain has weakened Irma, the Category 4 storm is expected to regain strength, the NHC said.

Irma has maximum sustained winds of 130 mph and is about 225 miles south-southeast of Miami.

On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should continue to move near the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas tonight and Saturday, and be near the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula Sunday morning.

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