At least three dead after Hurricane Irma makes second landfall in Florida

At least three people were reported dead as Hurricane Irma made second landfall in Florida in the United States on Sunday. It will head towards the west coast of the state peninsula on Monday, The Washington Post reported, quoting the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm made first landfall in Cudjoe Key at the Florida coast around 9 am on Sunday. It made the second landfall at 3.35 pm at Marco Island.

At least three million people in the state are without electricity, though the storm has weakened from Category 4 to Category 2, Sky News reported. However, winds continue to hit the region at 100 mph.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio said Miami’s Hialeah Hospital has only two hours of diesel left in its generator.

Irma is a ‘big monster’: Donald Trump

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday said Irma was “some big monster”, reported ABC News.

“We tried to warn everybody, and for the most part they have left, but that is a bad path to be in,” he said, referring to the people who ignored orders to evacuate and stayed back along the coast. “The Coast Guard has been amazing with what they are doing right in the middle of the storms. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been incredible, and we are working very well with the governor and other governors in the surrounding states.”

Trump said the damages from Irma will cost a lot of money, “but right now we are worried about lives, not costs.”

Irma devastates Caribbean

The storm made landfall in Florida after leaving a trail of destructing in a number of islands in the Caribbean, where it killed at least 22 people. Irma barreled through Cuba, Puerto Rico, St Martin and the British and US Virgin Islands.

It has caused damage worth more than $10 billion, the BBC reported. About 50% of the population of Barbuda is now homeless, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.