Hurricane Irma Ominously Heads Toward Florida

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which inundated Houston and surrounding areas to an unprecedented degree, another monster storm has been brewing in the eastern Atlantic and is now approaching the West Indies.  Hurricane Irma, currently with 120 mph sustained winds, is now predicted to strike the Leeward Islands and then continue in a generally west-northwest direction as it strikes glancing blows at Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Cuba.  These three major Caribbean islands, while probably being spared the wrath of this storm's most powerful winds...now predicted to reach as high as 145 mph...will still undoubtedly suffer great damage and, regrettably, casualties as it heads for a showdown with my home state of Florida.  The projected computer models as they now stand all seem to have Irma reaching the eastern Florida Straits between south Florida and Cuba sometime next Saturday...and then they diverge from each other.  Some models have it then turning abruptly northward just east of the Florida peninsular and some show it entering the Gulf of Mexico before coming at Florida from the west...but most of them seem to have Irma directly striking Florida with Monroe, Dade, and Broward Counties being the most in peril.  I live in Alachua County, in the northern part of the state, inland to the west of St. Augustine and northeast of Cedar Key.  We've been fortunate so far here in Gainesville with hurricanes over the years, but my fear is that one of the strong ones will enter the Gulf and hit Gainesville via Cedar Key: Irma ominously is showing the potential to do this.  But it's still early and I've seen these predictions of hurricanes and their projected paths stray far and wide from what eventually happens.  Still, it's best to be prepared for the worst...