As Hurricane Irma buzz-sawed its way up Florida's Gulf Coast, it looked for several hours like the heavily populated Tampa Bay area could face catastrophic wind damage and flooding from the first major storm to roar ashore there in 96 years.
Before crashing into Florida, Hurricane Irma set all sorts of records for brute strength, flattening islands in the Caribbean and swamping the Florida Keys.
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have devastated parts of the Gulf Coast including devastation in Houston and the western coast of Florida. WIBX and the Keeler in the Morning Show have set up a fund drive to assist the American Red Cross in disaster relief.
Hurricane Irma battered the Turks and Caicos Islands early Friday as the fearsome Category 5 storm continued a rampage through the Caribbean that has killed at least 11 people, with Florida in its sights.
Shifting forecasts raised the threat to the Southeast from fierce Hurricane Irma and prompted emergency declarations in the Carolinas and coastal Georgia, including areas that haven't suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century.
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis says his government has ordered a mandatory evacuation of islands in the southern part of the island chain because of Hurricane Irma.