TAMPA, FLORIDA — Nearly 4.5 million homes and businesses across Florida have lost power as Hurricane Irma moves over the state, with possibly more outages to come.
Utility officials say it will take weeks to restore electricity to everyone. Farther north, more than 100,000 are in the dark in Georgia.
Much of eastern Alabama and coastal South Carolina are under tropical storm warnings as Irma pummels Florida, weakening on its march northward.
The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm will cross Monday into southwest Georgia, where a hurricane warning was in effect for a large rural area including the cities of Albany and Valdosta.
Rain already is falling in parts of the state, including metro Atlanta, early Monday.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says that while the city hasn’t escaped Hurricane Irma’s wrath, the situation isn’t as bad as they had feared.
Speaking Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Buckhorn said “What we thought was going to be a punch in the face was a glancing blow.”
Buckhorn did say there are a lot of downed power lines and debris.
He said Tampa’s officials have vehicles positioned “to be sure that when that surge comes in we can keep people out of the streets.”
He said he expected power to be out for some sections of Tampa for at least a couple more days.
Hurricane Irma is getting weaker as it moves over the western Florida peninsula after hitting the state Sunday as a Category 4 storm.
Police in Miami are investigating reports of people looting stores as Hurricane Irma hit the state.
On Sunday night, Miami police took two people into custody and detained two others.
Deputy Police Chief Luis Cabrera told the Miami Herald the officers went to the Shops at Midtown on Sunday afternoon as the winds of Hurricane Irma were at their strongest in South Florida. Cabrera says a group in a white truck hit multiple locations. Police have also received additional reports of looting in the city.
Police had issued a curfew Saturday night, partly to ward off looters by giving officers probable cause to stop anyone for being on the street during the storm.
Cabrera didn’t have specific details about the looting incidents.
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