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‘I’m scared to death’ says Key West woman riding out storm

A man walks along the beach with heavy winds and threatening skies in Hollywood, Fla., as Hurricane Irma approaches the state on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
A man walks along the beach with heavy winds and threatening skies in Hollywood, Fla., as Hurricane Irma approaches the state on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP) A man walks along the beach with heavy winds and threatening skies in Hollywood, Fla., as Hurricane Irma approaches the state on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Associated Press 1 min read

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Hurricane Irma is closing in on the Florida Keys with top winds of 120 mph (190 kph) early Sunday as forecasters monitored a crucial shift in its trajectory that could keep its ferocious eye off the southwest Florida coast and over warm gulf water.

Tens of thousands of people huddling in shelters watched for updates as the storm swung to the west, now potentially sparing Tampa as well Miami the catastrophic head-on blow forecasters had been warning about.

But those few miles meant St. Petersburg could get a direct hit, rather than its more populous twin across Tampa Bay.

The leading edge of the immense storm bent palm trees and spit rain across South Florida, knocking out power to more than 170,000 homes and businesses, as the eye approached Key West.