Hurricane Irma Makes Landfall on Florida’s Mainland

Hurricane Irma has officially made landfall on the mainland of Florida.

The tropical storm’s eyewall finally reached Marcos Island, Florida on Sunday afternoon around 3:45 p.m. EST, according to multiple outlets. Irma is now headed to North towards the city of Naples.

AP reports that it was a category 3 storm when it hit.

It is unclear what the extent of the damages to the area is at this time. Social media received some of the first images from the area from those on the ground.

This is the second landfall in Florida after the storm hit the Florida Keys.

Over the past week, the storm has swept through the Caribbean and led to destruction on the islands of St. Martin and Barbuda, as well as in Cuba, throughout the past week.

Key West was one of the first cities to order evacuation earlier in the week, as the storm appeared to be veering towards the state’s east coast and Miami. On Saturday, the storm changed paths and headed for a collision with the west coast of the state.

The Keys are receiving the brunt of Irma’s force as the storms heads towards cities including Fort Myers, Tampa, Naples, Sarasota and St. Petersburg.

Ahead of the landfall, the region was also being lashed by rain and high winds as Irma closed in. Most inhabitants evacuated the area, but some stayed behind.

The Florida Keys were the first part of the state to get struck by the storm. Florida Governor Rick Scott had urged residents to get out before things got too bad to escape.

“I’ve got one last plea to everybody in the Florida Keys,” Scott said Friday night. “Just think about it. You’re going to have 155 mph winds. You have a potential 9-plus feet of storm surge. It’s going to be very difficult to survive this.

“I care about everybody in the Keys,” he said. “Your families care about you. I’m asking you to get out. You don’t have much time to go. There’s not going to be anybody that can save you. There might not even be anybody that can save you after the storm. We’ve already evacuated all the hospitals.”