Effects of Hurricane Irma in Florida
Irma was the first major hurricane to strike the state since Wilma in 2005 and the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Charley in 2004. The storm made landfall in Florida on the same date as Hurricane Donna, the last Category 4 hurricane to strike the Florida Keys. Irma was only the second hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma, the other being Hermine in 2016. Due to few very intense hurricanes since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there was concern that many Floridians never experienced or did not recall experiencing a hurricane as strong as Irma was projected to be at landfall, with significant growth in population and assets during the previous 25 years.
Hurricane Irma
Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys with winds of 130 mph (215 km/h) and a pressure of 931 mbar (hPa; 27.49 inHg), making it the strongest hurricane to strike Florida in terms of wind speed since Charley in 2004, and the most intense to strike the state in terms of barometric pressure since Andrew in 1992. In the span of two weeks, two Category 4 hurricanes—Harvey and Irma—struck the continental United States, the first time on record two Atlantic tropical cyclones of such strength made landfall on the country in the same hurricane season. This also marked only the third occurrence of two consecutive Atlantic storms making landfall in the United States as major hurricanes. The other two instances were the Great Charleston/Cheniere Caminada hurricanes in 1893, and hurricanes Ivan/Jeanne in 2004.