Hurricane Irma Damage In Florida Shown In Drone Video
New drone video out of Florida captured an aerial view of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma in the Sunshine State. The video, taken by Travis Long and posted by the Miami Herald Wednesday, showed Irma’s path of destruction in Manatee County, south of Tampa on the west coast.
The video showed enormous trees ripped out of the ground by their roots, roofs torn clean off homes and overturned and sunken boats. At least one person could be seen in the video working to restore a home amid the wreckage.
President Donald Trump headed down to Florida Thursday to determine the extent of the damage left by the record-breaking hurricane. With temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, three million people remained without power in the state, according to CNN. Florida Power and Light Company estimated the west coast would have power restored by September 22, while the east coast would likely have power as soon as this weekend.
Officials continued to add to the death toll left by Hurricane Irma. The total death toll stood Thursday at 61, 26 of which occurred in Florida. Meanwhile, an estimated 13,000 people remained in shelters in Florida after the storm destroyed homes and rendered return impossible. In the lower Florida Keys, one of the worst hit areas, residents were still not allowed to return home Thursday. An estimated 25 percent of homes in the Keys were destroyed, while around 90 percent had some kind of damage, according to estimates by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Emergency workers continued to work to conduct search and rescue missions in the Keys to scour the island chain for survivors who might be in need of help. Two thousand National Guard members were deployed to the Keys to render aid and give food, water and other supplies that were in high demand.
“They were running out at the shelters,” Bobby Ourada told CBS News. “We tried to get some last night. We couldn’t get any, so thank God we finally got something.”
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