Hurricane Irma developed on August 30,under favorable conditions, Irma rapidly intensified shortly after formation, becoming a Category 2 hurricane within a 24 hours. It became a Category 3 hurricane (and therefore a major hurricane) shortly afterward; however, the intensity fluctuated for the next several days. On September 5, Irma became a Category 5 hurricane, and by early the next day, Irma reached peak intensity with 185 mph, making it the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2017 so far.
Original Travel Plan;
My original travel plan was to travel on the 7th of September, these travel plans unfortunately changed due to hurricane Irma. My original travel plan was to travel from Manchester - Copenhagen, then Copenhagen - Fort Lauderdale. I booked my flights through Kiwi.com and this is an online booking agency that I will not be using again. On the 5th of September I received an email telling me that I should not fly out to Florida, this was completely understandable because everyone involved in this decision were looking out for my (and the rest of the interns), safety. Unfortunately Kiwi.com did not understand this and after several phone calls back and forth on the 6th of September they offered me no opportunity to change my flights, despite the circumstances. Luckily on the 7th of September the day I was due to fly Kiwi.com reluctantly offered different flights free of charge, but I had already booked new flights by then. I contacted the company through email, twitter, phone call and a chat service through the website, eventually the company reluctantly offered a refund. New Travel Plan;
My new travel plan is now to travel Manchester - John, F. Kennedy Airport, New York, then JFK NY - Fort Lauderdale. I plan to travel on September the 16th of September; hopefully Hurricane Irma, will have passed, but it will have left damage in it's path. Throughout the change of my flights Northumbria University were excellent with help and support on offer as well as caring. On the day of booking the flights, Admirals Cove, and Rasheeda were very responsive to say they had bigger things to worry about, this being the hurricane. Despite the hurricane and change of flights being stressful for me obviously hurricane Irma has had more catastrophic impacts on people that were affected in its path. There are bigger things going on in the world to worry over lost money when people have lost their lives.
After Irma dropped to a Category 3 intensity as it passed along Cuba, on September 10 the storm rose to Category 4 as it crossed warm waters between Cuba and the Florida Keys. This marked the first time on record that two Category 4 or stronger hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. in the same year; Hurricane Harvey, also with 130 mph (215 km/h) winds, made landfall in Texas two weeks earlier. Irma dropped back to Category 3 by the time it made a second Florida landfall. Irma weakened to a Category 2 hurricane later that day, the first time it weakened below major hurricane status in over a week. Irma is also the first major hurricane to hit the state of Florida since Hurricane Wilma back in 2005.
The storm caused catastrophic damage in Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands as a Category 5 hurricane. As of September 10, the hurricane has caused at least 42 deaths. Not only did this hurricane cause deaths in it's path it has dropped more than a foot of rain in several parts of South Florida so far this weekend. As of 10 p.m. Sunday, Fort Pierce, north of Palm Beach on Florida’s east coast, had received the most rain in the state, 15.9 inches, according to the National Weather Service. The Severity of the hurricane in Florida has caused Florida officials to order more than 6.5 million residents to leave their homes.
Luckily Irma is weakening but the danger hasn't passed and unfortunately the misfortune that Irma has left in it's path won't be easy to forget; thoughts are with all families and everyone that is affected and will be affected by the hurricane in it's path.
