Hurricane Irma: Miami Looters, Daily Curfews, Sense Of Relief In Florida Keys

MIAMI, FL — Deadly Hurricane Irma crashed into the Florida Keys on Sunday as a Category 4 storm with 130 miles per hour winds, then continued past Miami-Dade County, swamping the Brickell neighborhood and tearing down trees and power lines. A daily curfew was imposed until further notice, although looters were out. And public schools are out indefinitely as the tedious work of cleanup and recovery begins.

Miami-Dade County Police have arrested looters, as have police in other Florida. But no group of criminal suspects likely has been as publicly shamed as those in Miami, who had their photo from a holding cell released on the police department's Facebook page. The agency wrote: "Thinking about looting? Ask these guys how that turned out."

On Monday afternoon the image had been shared almost 10,000 times on Facebook, and had received 1,2000 comments, which ranged from "Who the hell loots during a hurricane?" to "their sentence should be jail time, but also include "community service" that requires them to clean up the trashy aftermath!" (For more hurricane news or local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Miami Patch, and click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The suspects in custody in the photo may have been arrested in connection with the looting of a Foot Locker store, FOX5 reported. Miami-Dade police said 28 people were arrested for burglary/looting by Monday morning. Residents are asked to report looting or any criminal activity by calling 305-4-POLICE.

Watch: Helicopter Surveys Damage In Key West, Florida

One person also died in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Miami-Dade, emergency management officials said. The person died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a generator.

The Miami-Dade countywide curfew has been extended to be effective daily from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. until further notice. Monroe County officials will be making an announcement regarding when it is safe for Keys residents to return to their homes.

MUNICIPAL CURFEWS
Aventura: until 12 p.m. Sept. 11
City of Miami: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., (until further notice)
Florida City: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. (until further notice)
Hialeah: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (until further notice)
Homestead: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (until further notice)
Miami Beach: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (No cars permitted to enter the City until Tues., Sept. 12 at noon)
North Miami: 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Residents can report property damage online after tropical storm force winds subside and when it is safe to do so.

Miami area roads flooded as the storm brought heavy rains and winds. Miami Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says that school are canceled indefinitely for the nation's fourth largest school district. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Florida Power & Light customers in the eight 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. It could be up to a week before power is restored in some areas, Duke Energy said in a noon update.

Also See: Hurricane Irma Weakens To A Tropical Storm, But It's Still Dangerous

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.

Report power outages to Florida Power & Light online or call 1-800-4-OUTAGE (1-800-468-8243).

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

What's Open, Closed In Miami

There are no passenger flights scheduled at Miami International Airport Monday. Some airlines will fly personnel and crew members to MIA in preparation for flights to resume. After a damage assessment today, officials will determine if passenger flights can resume on Tuesday.

ANIMAL SERVICES

• Miami-Dade Animal Services is closed.
• The Homestead Community Spay/Neuter Clinic is also closed
• Previously scheduled spay/neuter surgeries will be rescheduled.

BEACHES / MARINAS

Marinas are closed. As a reminder, the marina is not a safe place to stay during the storm, boat owners are not permitted to stay aboard their vessel.

BRIDGES

Bridges are closed.

The following grocery stores are open:

• Sedano's, 1690 West 68th Street, Hialeah, FL 33014
• Sedano's, 3925 Palm Avenue, Hialeah, FL 33012
• Sedano's, 10720 West Flagler St., Miami, FL 33175
• Sedano's, 12175 SW 26 Street, Miami, FL 33175
• Sedano's, 6430 NW 186th Street, Miami, FL 33015
• Sedano's, 2425 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33135
• Sedano's, 2301 West 52nd Street, Hialeah, FL 33016
• Sedano's, 3140 West 76 Street, Hialeah, FL 33018
• Sedano's, 16255 SW 88 Street, Miami, FL 33196
• Sedano's, 831 NE 8th Street, Homestead, FL 33030
• Sedano's, 10780 NW 58th Street, Doral, FL 33178
• Sedano's, 18600 NW 87th Ave, Miami, FL 33015
• Sedano's, 14524 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL 33184
• Sedano's, 8601 SW 40th Street, Miami, FL 33155
• Sedano's, 3801 West Flagler St, Miami, FL 33134

Two cranes struck buildings 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.

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."

Florida native Stefany Holmes is staying with relatives near Sarasota, where power remains despite rain and winds that approached 100 mph. Holmes told Patch there was an immense sense of relief in the Keys right now.

"It was a big deal," she said. "This was gigantic. For a native like me to as worried as I was... this was huge. It affected everyone in the state and for the first time in my lifetime, this state came together. We are feeling so fortunate. I feel for those who had to evacuate."

The empty bays are very dramatic and residents are starting to survey the damage and clean up as best as they can, Holmes said.

Includes reporting by Miami Patch Editor Paul Scicchitano

Image via Shutterstock