Hurricane Irma Live Updates: 3 Deaths Reported In Wake of Storm, 3M+ Without Power

Hurricane Irma roared into Florida with 130 mph winds Sunday, striking down power lines, flooding city streets and leaving people to wonder when — and if — they'll ever get back to their homes. The 400-mile-wide storm blew ashore, first in the Keys early Sunday and then the mainland Sunday afternoon. Forecasters said it could hit the heavily populated Tampa-St. Petersburg area early Monday.

While winds and rain still ravaged the western coast, the National Hurricane Center late Sunday night issued a bit of good news for the southern peninsula, changing the hurricane warning to a tropical storm warning from Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, as well as for the Florida Keys and Florida Bay. By 11 p.m. Sunday, a hurricane warning remained in effect for north of Jupiter Inlet to Fernandina Beach, north of Bonita Beach to Indian Pass, and for Lake Okeechobee. The eye of the Category 2 storm was centered about 50 miles south of Tampa, and packed maximum sustained winds of 100 mph across central Florida.

While the flooding, wind damage and falling debris were the most immediate cause of damage, storm surges, which temporarily raise the sea level along the coasts, threaten to deluge parts of western Florida as Irma moves north. By early Monday morning, Fort Myers already started to experience a significant rise in sea level. Further up the coast, cities such as Tampa were predicted to experience a storm surge of between 1 to 3 feet.

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

Initially, authorities worried the storm surge could reach as high as 12 feet. Even the lower levels of storm surges now expected, however, can cause massive amounts of destruction.

With the heavy bands of rain, weather forecasters also issued warnings for flash floods in Melbourne and Tampa. And, an indication of how long hospitals have hunkered down in the Sunshine State, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted that Hialeah Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., had just enough diesel to run for two hours. In his tweet, Rubio appealed to get more diesel or for electric service to be restored.

So far, at least three deaths have been connected to the storm. In Tallahassee, a Hardee County sheriff's deputy was leaving her shift and a state corrections on his way to his shift, collided head-on into each other and died in the crash, according to a report by the Miami Herald. A third person died in a single vehicle crash in Orange County at about 7 p.m. And, while no fatalities have been recorded in the Keys, as the storm moved past the islands late Sunday, authorities began to survey damage and said they feared deaths had happened.

There has been at least one addition to the Florida family: Nayiri Storm, who's mom rushed out of the Keys when she heard of the storm's size, was born in a Miami hospital on Sunday.

Meanwhile, more than 3 million of the state’s utility customers are now without power. Florida Light and Power spokesman Rob Gould said they can’t put workers on the streets yet, but more than 17,000 utility workers from across the country were positioned around the state ahead of the storm, and ready to move when the storm relents. Irma’s shifting course has meant crews had to move to get into the damaged areas.

“This is going to be a very, very long restoration, arguably the longest in U.S. history,” Gould said.

The hurricane is expected to make landfall in the Fort Myers-Tampa region around 8 p.m. local time Sunday.

Up and down the Florida peninsula, thousands and thousands of people huddled in shelters, and hoped for the best. Just as the storm neared Fort Myers, the Lee County Sheriff's Office says water began leaking through the roof at the Germain Arena shelter in Estero. Thousands of evacuees have crowded into the minor-league hockey stadium, which seats about 8,400 people and is being used as a shelter. The sheriff's office posted on Facebook that authorities are monitoring the problem.

Meanwhile, President Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for Florida.

People aren't the only ones trying to get out of Irma's way. An alligator displaced in the storm was seen in Melbourne, a reminder of some of the unseen dangers in floodwaters.

In downtown Miami, Irma's driving winds twisted a construction crane mounted on a high-rise building, and it snapped and broke. City officials warned via Twitter to avoid the area. Fire officials told the Miami Herald that weather conditions had deteriorated so badly that it was not safe for crews to venture out to inspect -- or secure -- the crane. Later in the afternoon, a second large crane was reported to have collapsed at a building under construction on Northeast 30th Terrace. And on Northeast Fifth Avenue in Miami, a roof peeled off a two-story apartment building.

Meanwhile, streets in Miami's downtown area of Brickell, full of high rise office buildings and luxury condos, were flooded. Photos and videos posted to social media showed the streets in the area submerged. A curfew for Miami-Dade County begins at 7 p.m. Sunday until 7 a.m. Monday, which police will be out enforcing.

Florida International University said late Sunday it would be closed until further notice, but that students would be given ample notice.

Just before 3 p.m. Sunday, Fort Lauderdale police said that they arrested nine people for looting during the storm on West Sunrise Boulevard. “Going to jail over a pair of sneakers is a fairly poor life choice,” said Chief Rick Maglione. “Stay home and look after your loved ones and be thankful they are all safe.”

And even before Irma's howling winds calm, scam artists are already out taking advantage of people who are waiting out the storm in their homes. TECO Energy said Sunday people dressed as utility workers have been knocking on doors, then robbing whoever answers at gunpoint.

At least three tornadoes were confirmed Sunday, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service, one in Brevard County, a second in Broward County and another in Hardee County.

As the eye of the storm approached, authorities also warned: "Do not venture outside when the calm eye of the hurricane passes over, as dangerous winds will return very quickly when the eye moves away." The eye of the storm is 30 miles wide. The hurricane itself is almost 400 miles wide.

Hurricane Irma landed in Florida Sunday morning, making landfall in Cudjoe Key in the lower Florida Keys, bringing with it torrential rains and howling winds, wreaking havoc across South Florida before making a second landfall on Florida's mainland and landing in Marco Island just before 4 p.m. Video footage shared via social media from the Keys and southern Florida showed the driving wind and rain.

Across the state of Florida, curfews have been issued to try to discourage people from leaving their homes and shelters once Irma hits. Police, fire and rescue officials say they may not be able to get to them if they need help.

“We will not tolerate sightseers wanting to take a look at the damage and ride into neighborhoods to see what the storm has done to the community,” Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said in enacting a 24-hour curfew ahead of the storm. “Until 3 p.m. tomorrow, stay off the roads.”

Looters “will go to jail," Wells said. "We want to protect citizens and their property.”

Police across the state showed their senses of humor had all but evaporated. Facebook user Ryon Edwards, 22, of Daytona Beach, posted the invitation, "LETS SHOW IRMA THAT WE SHOOT FIRST." It was meant as joke, Edwards told the Associated Press. Regardless, 50,000 Facebook users accepted the invite.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office was not laughing. It tweeted this response late Saturday:

Meanwhile, the people of Cuba began assessing the devastation on the island nation. Irma ripped roofs off houses, collapsed buildings and flooded hundreds of miles of coastline as it raked Cuba's northern coast after devastating islands the length of the Caribbean in a trail of destruction. Video images from northern and eastern Cuba showed uprooted utility poles and signs, many downed trees and extensive damage to roofs. Witnesses said a provincial museum near the eye of the storm was in ruins. And authorities in the city of Santa Clara said 39 buildings collapsed.

The reality of Irma and its fury was evident up north, too. While it's hundreds of miles from the coast, the Atlanta metro is under a tropical storm warning -- the first time ever for the city. High wind warnings have been issued in previous storms. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 36 hours. Peak winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 mph with gusts of up to 55 mph. The warning is in place to urge Georgians to prepare for high winds, downed trees and widespread power outages. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has said it will suspend all bus, rail and mobility service for Monday, Sept. 11 due to the anticipated weather conditions Hurricane Irma is expected to bring into the state.

Billions of dollars in damage is expected. For Florida to escape without loss of life would be a miracle.

"Unfortunately, there is no way the United States is going to avoid another catastrophic weather event," said Joel N. Myers, chairman of AccuWeather. "There will be massive damage in Florida. (It will be the worst single hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992."

Massive flooding remains a concern in Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, but Florida is certain to stand alone in the severity of damage. Irma has killed at least 30 people in her run of destruction through the Caribbean to the United States and reduced entire islands to little more than splintered wood and rubble.

Hurricane Irma: Airline Information For Rebooking, Canceling Impacted Flights

Find a Patch in Florida

At one point in its angry life, Irma was more powerful than any other hurricane since reliable measurements became available. The mere size of Irma is remarkable. The storm is about the size of Texas, meaning that if the hurricane hovers over Florida dropping rain for two days, as expected, massive flooding anywhere along Florida's coastline is possible.

As many as 7,000 National Guard troops from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin are being mobilized and will be sent to Florida next week. This will be the largest deployment of Guard forces for a natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

With reporting by Patch editors Sherri Lonon, Paul Scicchitano and Don Johnson in Florida. Information from the Associated Press was used for this article.

See also:

• Hurricane Irma Webcams
• Hurricane Irma Raining Sharks? No, Dear Internet, Don’t Believe It
• Irma Guns For Tampa Bay Area
• $15B Aid Bill Passes Congress, Includes Debt Limit Raise
• Georgia Ports To Close In Savannah, Brunswick
• Polk County Adjusts Shelter List Ahead Of Hurricane Irma
• Hurricane Irma Threat Prompts Florida State Of Emergency
• NFL Moves Bucs-Dolphins Opener To November
• Hurricane Irma: Sarasota County Schools Announce Plans
• Hurricane Irma: Pinellas County Schools Announce Plans
• USF Sets Hurricane Irma Plans
• Airlines Charge Thousands To Fly Out Of Hurricane Irma Path In Florida

Main Photo: People tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral, Fla., on Sunday.. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)