Exactly five years ago Friday, residents and business owners in the Florida Keys were preparing for the impending arrival of Hurricane Irma. It would eventually make landfall Sept. 10 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 mph.
A news conference took place to commemorate that anniversary as state and county leaders gathered to reflect on the experiences, the lessons learned and to praise the resiliency of the community in the years since.
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“It’s not just about what happens during the storm," said State Rep. Jim Mooney, a Republican from the 120th District which includes the entire Florida Keys. "We come together as a community."
“When hurricane whatever comes, we’re ready for it because we work together and we try to lead together,” said Capt. David Dipre from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Developing on Aug. 30, 2017, it exploded to a Category 5 by Sept. 5 and became the strongest storm in the Atlantic Basin, until Dorian just two years later.
Irma was the first Category 5 to strike the Leeward Islands and currently holds the record for its 185 mph winds for 37 straight hours.
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It is also the third strongest Atlantic landfall on record — behind Dorian and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane — and destroyed 95% of Barbuda and Saint Martin.
Irma had seven landfalls between Sept. 6 and Sept. 10, including Cudjoe Key, and six hours later, Marco Island.
When the storm made landfall on Cudjoe Key as a Category 4 — because the eye was just east of Key West by only a few miles — it spared Key West the worst damage. However, everything east of the eye — like Marathon and Islamorada — was devastated, and lives were changed forever.
Because of the huge counter-clockwise rotation around the eye and the storm’s massive size and power, a historic storm surge was felt from the Keys to Brickell to Jacksonville to the Carolinas.
Two weeks later, Hurricane Maria would devastate Puerto Rico.
The following year, Irma, Maria, Harvey and Nate were all retired as storm names.
