Hurricane Irma
What It Is
Hurricane Irma was a powerful, unusually large Atlantic hurricane that approached Florida in early September 2017 after devastating parts of the Caribbean. Its forecast track and immense size triggered one of the largest evacuations in state history, with millions of residents ordered or urged to leave. Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys at major-hurricane strength and moved up the peninsula, weakening as it went. South Florida was spared a direct major-hurricane strike on its core but still saw destructive winds, storm surge, flooding, and prolonged power outages. Deaths in Florida, counting both direct and storm-related causes, numbered in the dozens to scores depending on the accounting.
Why It Matters
Irma was the largest evacuation test the modern Miami metro had faced, exposing the practical limits of moving millions of people off a peninsula with finite roads and fuel. It arrived as Miami was beginning to attract a wave of northern and tech migration, and it sharpened a question that hangs over that growth: whether climate and storm risk will eventually slow the influx of people and capital. For many newcomers, Irma was a first lesson in what living on this coastline actually requires.