THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS: National Weather Service tweets apocalyptic Irma warning
In case anyone was in any doubt as to the severity of Hurricane Irma and its devastating potential for Florida, the Key West National Weather Service (NWS) laid it out in simple, all caps terms Friday afternoon.
"THIS IS AS REAL AS IT GETS," a warning tweet screamed, accompanied by an illustration warning of "catastrophic, life-threatening wind and storm surge impacts" as the Category 5 storm makes landfall.
"NOWHERE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS WILL BE SAFE. YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO EVACUATE," it added. "Please RT."
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An NWS statement for Key West posted Friday was equally dire. It warned of an "extreme" threat to life and property, hurricane force winds of 110 mph or higher and a "life-threatening storm surge" of 5-8 feet. Forecasts now call for up to 12 feet of water above ground level in the Keys if the peak surge hits at high tide.
"Evacuation efforts should now be brought to completion," the advisory added. "Evacuations must be complete before driving conditions become unsafe."
As some people noted, the language was similar to the strong rhetoric used ahead of Hurricane Katrina.
The NWS Key West followed up its tweet with another, quoting the National Hurricane Service that made it even starker: "It's not clear that it's a survivable situation for anybody that is still there in the Keys."
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Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
