While packing up to evacuate his South Beach condo this week, Daniel Ciraldo saw his neighbors at an eight-unit Art Deco building scramble to MacGyver last-minute hurricane fixes. With plywood long sold out, some taped their windows, while others pushed their mattresses against them. It all seemed so inefficient. “The…
As Hurricane Irma spins into South Florida on Saturday, New Times staff are scattered across Dade and Broward counties to document the huge storm’s impact on the region. We’ll update this post all day long with the latest on the ground in the path of the biggest Atlantic hurricane on…
If the latest projections are accurate, Hurricane Irma’s devastating eyewall won’t hit Miami’s downtown, urban core. Since this morning, the models have shifted west and suggest the heart of the storm is more likely to nail the Southwest Florida coast after plowing straight over the Florida Keys. But the latest…
As evacuees have desperately tried to fly out of South Florida before Hurricane Irma hits, the airports have been a mess. Stranded passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were shuttled to an elementary school that doubles as a shelter, while dozens of flights out of Palm Beach County were canceled…
With the monstrous Hurricane Irma just days away, much of Miami Beach heeded mandatory evacuation orders from officials and headed out. But some of the Beach’s smallest residents — the hundreds of feral cats who call the island home — have no way out. So this week, animal lover Mary Garcia…
Miamians who’ve lived here for more than 25 years have likely spent the week telling war stories about surviving Hurricane Andrew in 1992, reminding themselves how they rode out the storm. But there’s ample evidence Irma is a storm unlike anything South Florida has seen before. For one, it’s projected…
In 1992, as Hurricane Andrew roared toward Miami, staff at Zoo Miami found an unlikely place to house the zoo’s 30 flamingos: the men’s bathroom. Ron Magill, then the assistant curator, was walking out the door after helping get the birds situated when he turned around to take one last look…
If you’ve ever lived in South Florida during hurricane season, chances are you’ve learned to read the various storm projection models like a fortuneteller scanning tarot cards. “I’m sorry, but the European model shows a far stronger eastern trend than the GFS,” you’ve probably said in a serious tone at…
As Hurricane Irma churns freakishly close to Florida, an estimated 650,000 Miami-Dade residents are now a part of Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s mandatory evacuation order. On barrier islands like Miami Beach, officials were warning people to get out of Dodge as early as Wednesday. But even now — as a…
The National Hurricane Center has now made official what everyone in Miami has feared since late last week: The entirety of South Florida is now under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning as massive Hurricane Irma bears down on the state. In its 11 p.m. advisory, the Hurricane…
With roughly 72 hours before Hurricane Irma is projected to hit Miami as a Category Four or Five storm, weather forecasts continue to get worse for central Miami. In response, County Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced just after 2:15 today that he’s expanding the mandatory evacuation zones across the area: Those…
As Hurricane Irma plows toward Miami, plywood and bottled water are roughly as hard to find as a good Donald Trump Twitter take, and lines for gas have grown to Soviet proportions. Through it all, the vast majority of Miamians have acted with grace, patience, and good humor. But not everyone has been totally cool under fire.
As Hurricane Irma closes in on Florida, Texas is still reeling from the effects of Harvey. But it’s now clear that the devastation from the storm has gone way beyond flooded homes and wind-damaged buildings: In Houston, flood waters have damaged at least 13 Superfund sites, all heavily polluted areas…
Over the past few days, hordes of patrons have flocked to Trump’s resort in Doral to escape from the wrath of Hurricane Irma. Just this morning, the front desk announced to hopeful guests that the hotel is booked. But it doesn’t seem right for a president whose policies intend to cut disaster relief budgets to benefit from the panic of Irma.
Hurricane Irma is gigantic. And it’s coming to South Florida. As of 8 a.m. today, the only real debate among forecasters is how strong the storm will remain when it arrives in Miami this weekend and whether its über-destructive eye wall makes a direct hit on our urban corridor and the 6 million souls who live there.
Hurricane Irma is still a few days away from making landfall in Florida, but plenty of meteorologists are already predicting the worst. If the Category 5 storm does hit Miami directly, as some models anticipate, the damage could be astounding. One estimate says the tab could reach as high as $300 billion.
If you live on any of Miami-Dade County’s barrier islands or low-lying coastal areas, now is the time to get out. After hurricane forecasts put Miami square in the center of Hurricane Irma’s path, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez late Wednesday ordered a mandatory evacuation of all residents of barrier…
Jamira Kennedy and her fiance were sitting with their one-month-old son Wednesday morning, talking about loading up on food for Hurricane Irma, when they were startled by two loud knocks at the door. It was the police. Just days before the largest Atlantic storm in history is set to arrive…
Hurricane Irma forecasts this morning seemed to give Miami a glimmer of hope. The world’s major storm-modeling programs showed Irma inching closer toward the Atlantic Ocean, and potentially missing South Florida entirely much like Hurricane Matthew did last year. The National Hurricane Center’s latest update offered no such respite. This…
Despite the panic of 185-mph Irma, a Category Five hurricane expected to hit South Florida, residents and businesses in the historic neighborhood Overtown seem unfazed, Having endured hurricanes Andrew and Wilma, many civilians seem prepared for whatever the storm may bring.
As of 8 a.m. today, Hurricane Irma is still a record-shattering monster in the Atlantic. As the storm churns 15 miles west of Saint Martin, Irma packs 185 mph sustained winds and frighteningly low central pressure of 918 mb. Irma is pounding the Leeward Islands, has Puerto Rico and the Bahamas in its sights, and — as of now — still looks like a very real threat for Florida.
Over the past couple of years, Miami Beach’s hip Sunset Harbour neighborhood has weathered its fair share of big storms. After a thunderstorm last October, Pubbelly Sushi flooded with nearly six inches of water. A dispute over the street levels led an insurance company to refuse to pay a claim…
