Hurricane Irma battered Florida and the Caribbean last week and left a wide trail of devastation in its wake. Homes and infrastructure were destroyed, the death toll keeps rising and millions of people are still without power.
These dramatic photos show Hurricane Irma's devastating impact on Florida https://t.co/fV4A9zmqgr pic.twitter.com/NeMBSRsA6n
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 10, 2017
Though the struggle with Irma’s aftermath continues on mainland Florida, the Florida Keys had it even worse, having been completely decimated by the storm. Roughly 90 percent of homes in the Keys were damaged, ABC reported, while 25 percent were totally destroyed.
Mike Theiss, a photographer and storm chaser for National Geographic, posted the below footage of Irma’s floods and devastation in the Keys to Twitter.
Sections of US-1 (Overseas Hwy) washed away from storm surge in the lower #FloridaKeys from #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/uEccflWzon
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 11, 2017
Many uprooted large trees in #KeyWest This tree completed crushed this house. #Irma pic.twitter.com/rOVvYXpljl
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 11, 2017
Surge coming in #KeyWest as #HurricaneIrma made landfall. pic.twitter.com/4ToLvAhxOU
— Mike Theiss (@MikeTheiss) September 11, 2017
Experts told NBC News that full recovery in the Keys could take years, and even short-term recovery measures, like regaining power, are not expected to happen for at least another week.
“It could be about as long as a month before we have full electricity in the Lower Keys,” Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers told MSNBC. She added that although residents were permitted to return to survey the hurricane’s damage: “We don’t really encourage people to come back and stay.”
Six people died at a Hollywood, Florida, nursing home, CBS reported, after the facility lost power and air conditioning. The patients at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were among the 4 million Floridians without electricity. The facility evacuated 115 patients, and was evacuating another 18 from a neighboring mental health facility.
"Most of the patients have been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration, & heat- related issues." Dr. gives update on nursing home. pic.twitter.com/oLIzgVrbe2
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 13, 2017
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