Irma weakens as it heads past Tampa, cutting damage forecast

Bloomberg

Hurricane Irma weakened as it moved past Tampa, leaving in its wake at least 4.7 million without power and millions temporarily displaced. The center of the system was expected to weaken to a tropical storm this morning and a tropical depression by Tuesday afternoon, the National Hurricane center said in an advisory. A storm surge warning was discontinued for parts of southern Florida as the storm headed north. Enki Research’s estimate for total damages dropped to $49 billion from $200 billion earlier.
Despite curfews and downed trees, some southern Florida residents were already venturing out to walk pets and take in the storm-freshened air on Sunday night. “This had the potential to be catastrophic,” said Gladys Ibarra, 51, who works in finance at a shipping company, as she wandered an inland stretch of Coral Gables, where tree limbs littered the ground, but buildings looked little damaged. “We were very scared, and we were very lucky.”
The cyclone made landfall in the Keys about 9 a.m. on Sunday as a Category 4 storm with winds hitting 130 miles per hour, ravaging the delicate string of islands and then battering Miami before beginning its march up the coast as its fury began to dissipate. The storm is now about 60 miles north of Tampa, whose shallow bay, flat topography and lack of physical protection had made it the next notable urban area in Irma’s
projected path.
As of 5 a.m., Irma had top winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, a Category 1 storm, and was about 60 miles north of Tampa, the National Hurricane Center said. Rescue personnel in the city were sheltering on Sunday night until the winds died down. Irma is expected to weaken to a tropical storm over northern Florida or southern Georgia later on Monday morning, the center said.
“Let’s wait for the sun to come up in the morning,” said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, “and then we’ll set about the business of cleaning up the city.”