12 September, 2017
But unsafe storm surges started to follow.
Monroe County residents - those hardest hit by Hurricane Irma - should call FEMA at 800-621-3362 if your home was destroyed during the storm.
Irma is "the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade" according to the BBC - widespread damage is expected in the US, with other countries and islands such as the British Virgin Islands already having been badly hurt.
The new mother was released from the hospital, and now the new family of three, was escorted by the Miami-Dade police back to their hotel, where they're waiting out the storm.
In the dark: According to state officials, more than 50,000 customers are without power in Monroe County, Florida, which includes the Keys. More than 17,000 FPL workers, employees of other utilities and contractors from 30 states will work on power restoration.
Hurricane Irma weakened into a still-dangerous tropical storm overnight as it pushed inland, triggering record flooding in Florida's northeastern corner, while rescuers in its soggy, wind-battered wake mobilised to reach victims and learn the full extent of the damage.
Forecasters warned that after charting up Florida's west coast, a weakened Irma could push into Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and beyond.
Forecasters said metro Atlanta could expect peak winds of 30-40 miles per hour (50 to 65 kph) and gusts up to 55 miles per hour (90 kph) on Monday, with a likelihood of falling limbs and trees blocking roadways and snapping power lines.
Irma hit Florida after powering through the Caribbean as a rare Category 5 hurricane, the top rung of the Saffir-Simpson scale.
"I just hope everyone survived", Gov. Rick Scott said. "This is your last chance to make a good decision".
But some state residents planned to ride out the storm in their homes.
State government will also be closed both Monday and Tuesday.
"Thank God a lot of people evacuated the Keys", said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Joe Sanchez, according to the Miami Herald. The forecast carries the hurricane into the Florida Straits late tonight, then turns the storm north-northwestward toward the southwestern Florida coast. "Florida's peninsula is only approximately 160 miles wide and this storm stretches more than 300 miles, so we expect storm surge and tropical storm-force winds or higher across our entire service territory".
Officials in the Florida Keys are evacuating some 460 inmates and 125 corrections officers from a jail on Stock Island to a facility in Palm Beach County.
Pinellas County is under a mandatory Level A and Level B evacuation order. Most of those staying in shelters are in southeastern Florida, which initially looked to be the main target of the storm before the forecast shifted west.
The Florida Department of Transportation on Saturday started to close turnpike service plazas in South Florida, with the Fort Pierce and Fort Drum plazas shutting down Saturday night. The airport tweeted late Sunday that it needed to assess the damage before deciding whether passenger flights could resume Tuesday. St. Maarten, a major global destination for US and European carriers, was in ruins after the storm.
