Florida Governor Rick Scott said today that he’s instructed the Florida Highway Patrol to escort fuel supply trucks to stations in the state where Hurricane Irma evacuees are experiencing fuel shortages.
As of today, roughly 500,000 Floridians have been ordered to evacuate South Florida. Traffic jams continue on major routes throughout the state (see picture below).
Scott continued today to ask Floridians in storm-targeted areas to evacuate. He warned that the storm is more powerful than Hurricane Andrew, which devastated South Florida in 1992.
At least nine people in the Caribbean have been killed as Hurricane Irma, the Atlantic Ocean’s most powerful storm on record, tears through the islands there.
According to NOAA’s 2 p.m. EST advisory, maximum sustained winds are currently at 175mph. Though forecast models vary, NOAA currently shows the storm making landfall in South Florida on Sunday.
I've directed FHP to escort resupply fuel trucks to gas stations– we're aggressively working to get fuel out. https://t.co/5KBiK5GadA
— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 7, 2017
Traffic on i75 near Lake City, FL via my sister . #Irma pic.twitter.com/4YP74SU2gP
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) September 7, 2017