Miami : Millions of Florida residents were without power and extensive damage was reported in the Florida Keys but most of the Sunshine State appeared to have dodged forecasts of catastrophic damage from Hurricane Irma. While Florida may have escaped the worst from the monster
storm which first pummeled the Caribbean, the death toll jumped to at least 40 as Cuba said 10 people had been killed there over the weekend as Irma spun northward. And in the Caribbean, as hard-hit residents struggled to get back on their feet, Britain, France, the Netherlands and
the United States ramped up relief efforts for their overseas territories.
Florida residents who spent an anxious night huddled indoors were venturing out to survey the damage, which did not seem to be as bad as initially feared. More than 6.5 million customers in Florida were without power, however, and Governor Rick Scott said the chain of southern islands known as the Florida Keys had suffered a lot of damage. "There's devastation," Scott said after flying over the Keys with the Coast Guard. "I just hope everybody survived. It's horrible what we saw." He said the water, electricity and sewage systems in the Keys were all non-operational and that trailer parks had been "overturned." PTI
