Deadly Hurricane Irma Crashes Into Florida, Brings Damage, Flooding, Power Outages

MIAMI, FL — Deadly Hurricane Irma crashed into the Florida Keys on Sunday as a Category 4 storm. After days of anticipation, evacuations and preparation, Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Key at 9:10 a.m. The storm carried sustained winds of 130 miles per hour.

See also Hurricane Irma: 253K Without Power In South Florida

There was a report of a crane striking a building in downtown Miami, electrical wires that ignited a fire at a one-story home in Boca Raton and damage to the Miami Heat's training facility at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami area roads flooded as the storm brought heavy rains and winds.

Miami Scools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced that school would be canceled for the nation's fourth largest school district at least through Tuesday. Later he said it was more like indefinitely.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Florida Power & Light customers in 8 southern-most counties of Florida were without power, according to a Patch analysis. Most were in Miami-Dade County and nearby Broward and Palm Beach Counties. In the days leading up to the Irma's arrival, Miami-Dade County ordered the unprecedented evacuations of 660,000 residents in flood-prone areas and beach communities.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office reported that one teen was shot and another was in custody on Sunday during an alleged early morning burglary attempt in Weston as first responders were already contending with deteriorating weather conditions. The homeowners were out of town at the time but were alerted to the apparent break-in through their home surveillance system. BSO said that at least one deputy opened fire causing non life-threatening injuries to the teen.

During the overnight hours, a tornado warning sounded for a large swath of Palm Beach County and thousands of homeowners in Boca Raton and other communities were awakened by frightening robocalls warning them to seek shelter immediately.

Meanwhile, all across South Florida, people were glued to their televisions, computers and mobile devices. One Twitter user in the Miami area expressed relief that The Weather Channel's Jim Cantori had apparently moved on to another location from the Magic City. He turned up in Fort Myers on Florida's West Coast.

Internet, cable systems and cellular Internet services fought a losing battle to stay connected on Sunday into Monday. Power flickered on and off every couple of minutes for many, while eventually remaining off for seven out of 10 Florida Power & Light customers in Miami-Dade County.

One South Florida woman said that she was going take a drink every time the power went out then corrected herself. "I'm never going to be able to drink this much."

Image courtesy National Weather Service