KEY LARGO, Fla. – The Latest news related to Hurricane Irma in Florida (all times local):
9:20 a.m.
Lawyers for a Florida man scheduled to be executed in October want a delay in last-minute court proceedings due to the threat of Hurricane Irma.
Attorney Martin McClain said in a motion filed Wednesday that he and other lawyers representing Michael Ray Lambrix live in the expected path of the Category 5 storm. He said the attorneys need time to help their families get ready. McClain in his motion said that the state is expected to oppose the delay.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday scheduled Lambrix's execution for Oct. 5.
The 57-year-old Lambrix, also known as Cary Michael Lambrix, was convicted of the 1983 killings of Clarence Moore and Aleisha Bryant. Prosecutors say he killed them after an evening of drinking at his trailer near LaBelle, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Fort Myers.
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7:50 a.m.
Key West International Airport is preparing to close as Hurricane Irma approaches the island chain.
Officials said initially said the airport would close Wednesday night due to the Transportation Security Administration's security checkpoint ceasing the screening of passengers. However, the TSA agreed to keep the checkpoint open through Thursday evening.
Three Delta flights to Atlanta are scheduled for Thursday, departing at 7:05 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said in a news release that all commercial flights will then be canceled until further notice.
General aviation flights will continue from Key West and the Florida Keys Marathon International Airport until conditions become unsafe to operate. However international general aviation flights will end Wednesday afternoon, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection ceases operations.
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7:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump says his administration is closely watching Hurricane Irma.
On Twitter Wednesday morning, Trump says his "team, which has done, and is doing, such a good job in Texas, is already in Florida." He adds: "No rest for the weary!"
In a subsequent statement on Twitter, Trump says "Hurricane looks like largest ever recorded in the Atlantic!"
Hurricane Irma is the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history. It made its first landfall in the islands of the northeast Caribbean early Wednesday.
It's on a path toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida over the weekend.
Trump has declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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7:10 a.m.
Expect to wait in line for gasoline in South Florida — if you can find a station that still has gas.
Lines stretched around 50 cars deep at a gas station in Cooper City, which is southwest of Fort Lauderdale, by 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. The station had been out of fuel on Tuesday night, but received an overnight delivery.
Workers at a station in Doral, near Miami, put yellow caution tape around pumps Wednesday morning after running out of gasoline. Local news outlets reported both long lines and stations that had no gas across South Florida.
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3:20 a.m.
Officials in the island chain south of the Florida mainland are expected to announce evacuations as Hurricane Irma moves west through the Caribbean toward the state.
Officials in the Florida Keys say they expect to announce a mandatory evacuation for visitors starting Wednesday and for residents starting Thursday.
The Category 5 hurricane is expected to reach Florida by the weekend. On Wednesday morning it was about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Antigua.
People in South Florida raided store shelves, buying up water and other hurricane supplies. Long lines formed at gas stations and people pulled shutters out of storage and put up plywood to protect their homes and businesses.
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