Evacuations for Hurricane Irma Are Having a Crippling Effect Across Florida

Residents of the Miami area and the Florida Keys anxiously scrambled north on Friday morning in efforts to avoid Hurricane Irma, as the Category 4 storm makes its way to the U.S. after demolishing islands in the Caribbean.

Thousands of motorists in packed vehicles braved clogged roads and traffic jams, most notably along I-95, I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. Some waited hours for fuel at gas stations, some of which had run out of fuel completely. The Florida Highway Patrol escorted fuel tankers so that they could reach gas stations to refill.

The mass exodus could turn into one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history, clogging not just roadways but also the skies. Airlines in southern Florida added as many departing flights as possible Thursday night and Friday morning before planning to essentially shut down over the weekend.

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for parts of Miami-Dade County, Broward County east of U.S. 1, Palm Beach County, low-lying parts of Brevard County, and Monroe County (home to the Florida Keys). Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are home to about 6 million people.

Flying out of Florida

Some residents who didn’t care to bother with bumper-to-bumper traffic are choosing to fly out of Florida, as Delta Air Lines added flights from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Key West to Atlanta (its largest hub). Delta, along with American Airlines and United Airlines, waived its rebooking fees for those affected by Hurricane Irma.

American Airlines plans to wind down its activity in Miami and other southern Florida airports Friday afternoon, and then cancel flights throughout this weekend.

By late Saturday, Miami, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale — home to the 12th, 13th and 21st largest airports in the US, respectively — are expected to be largely dormant.

On Thursday night, there were so many increased flights out of Florida that air traffic controllers increased the space between flights from Miami and nearby Fort Lauderdale to enable them to better manage the crowded skies, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Governor Rick Scott warns to leave now

Florida governor Rick Scott warned residents to leave now, rather than Saturday or Sunday, during a news conference on Thursday.

“We cannot save you when the storm starts,” Scott said. “So, if you are in an evacuation zone and you need help, you need to tell us now.”

While more than 30,000 people from Monroe County — which is less than half the population — had evacuated by Thursday, Scott urged everyone else in the area to leave immediately. All hospitals would be closed and ambulances, including air transports, would be gone by Friday morning, County Administrator Roman Gastesi said.

“You might as well leave now, while you have a chance, because when you dial 911, you will not get an answer,” he said.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers agreed with the official’s sentiments. “This is not a Category 1,” he said. “This is not one to ride out and say, ‘Oh, it’s just a blow, we’ll be fine.’ No. If you’re in the Keys, you need to go. This isn’t an ‘always fine’ kind of storm.”

Bumper-to-bumper traffic

Extremely heavy traffic was reported on Thursday, including 4,000 vehicles per hour on I-75 northbound in Lake City, compared with a norm of 1,000 per hour, the Florida Department of Transportation reported.

On I-75 in Collier County, the Florida Department of Transportation saw about 1,800 vehicles per hour — three times as many than usual.

Those two interstates, along with the Florida Turnpike and U.S. 27, are the state’s only options as evacuation routes, meaning they will experience incredibly heavy traffic.

The general cone of Irma’s potential landfall encompasses the entire state of Florida, meaning residents have no choice but to flee north (not eastbound to the Gulf side of the state). 

“If this monster comes right up the peninsula of Florida, you’re gonna have a mass out-migration from the south to the north, and it’s gonna clog the roads something tremendously,” Florida senator Bill Nelson said. “Therefore, if you are going to evacuate, once the evacuation order is given, don’t wait around.”

A Boca Raton family traveling to Atlanta had to stay in an Orlando motel overnight due to slow traffic paces.

“What should have been another six- or seven-hour travel experience is coming up on 12 hours,” Roseanne Lesack told CNN on Thursday night from her vehicle, about 35 miles south of Atlanta. “It has been slow. Right now, we’re going about 20 mph. … It’s just three lanes of red bumper lights.”

Plus, the traffic may only get worse; because no one knows the exact locations where Irma will hit, other counties may be ordered to evacuate in the near future.

“Look at the size of this storm,” Scott said Thursday. “It is wider than our entire state and could cause major and life-threatening impacts from coast to coast. Regardless of what coast you live on, be prepared to evacuate. Floridians on the west coast cannot be complacent.”

Limited fuel supply

With the dramatic increase in vehicles on the road and only about half of Miami’s gas stations open, limited fuel options has increasingly become an issue in Florida.

At a Marathon gas station in Miami, drivers were waiting for at least an hour to refuel. A line of cars wrapped around the corner, and two police officers kept drivers in line, with police tape stopping them from skipping ahead.

State officials are also taking steps to ensure that more fuel would be delivered to open gas stations. According to a state news release, emergency contractors had secured 1.5 million gallons of fuel, with 300,000 barrels on their way from a ship in Tampa. A fuel ship from Mississippi is also due to make its way to Tampa, where it will receive a military escort.

Scott is also suspending toll collections during the mass evacuation and duration of the storm.