Former Hurricane Irma gradually weakens as Florida wrestles with floods and power outages
Five dead in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as storm is downgraded to a still-powerful tropical storm
Irma weakened to a still-deadly tropical storm as it swirled beyond Florida Monday, killing at least three people in Georgia, flooding the coast, sending trees crashing onto homes and forcing the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta to cancel hundreds of flights.
Irma had ranked as one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes recorded. It cut power to millions of people and ripped roofs off homes as it hit a wide swathe of Florida on Sunday and Monday.
Authorities said the storm had killed 38 people in the Caribbean and one in Florida, a man found dead in a pickup truck that had crashed into a tree in high winds on the Florida Keys over the weekend.
The storm had sustained winds of up to 100km/h when it crossed into Georgia, the National Hurricane Centre said.
The body of a 62-year-old man who climbed a ladder behind his home was found under debris on the roof of his shed in southwest Georgia, Worth County sheriff’s spokeswoman Kannetha Clem said. His wife had called 911 saying he’d had a heart attack.
