https://www.yahoo.com/news/im-scared-death-says-key-west-woman-riding-054341359.html
MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Irma gave Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 130 mph Sunday, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes over the Miami skyline.
The 400-mile-wide (640-kilometer-wide) storm blew ashore in the morning in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys, then began a slow march up the state's west coast, its winds extending clear across to Miami on the Atlantic side.
Forecasters said it could hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.
"Pray, pray for everybody in Florida," Gov. Rick Scott said on "Fox News Sunday" as more than 160,000 people statewide waited it out in shelters.
Irma arrived as a Category 4 storm but by late afternoon had weakened to a Category 2 with 110 mph (177 kph) winds. A storm surge of over 10 feet (3 meters) was recorded in the Keys, and forecasters warned some places on the mainland could get up to 15 feet of water.
There were no immediate confirmed reports of any deaths in Florida, on top of the 24 people killed during Irma's destructive trek across the Caribbean.
Nearly 7 million people in the Southeast were warned to evacuate, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.
About 30,000 people heeded orders to leave the Keys as the storm closed in, but an untold number refused, in part because to many storm-hardened residents, staying behind in the face of danger is a point of pride.
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