Irma, one of the fiercest Atlantic storms in a century, is expected to hit Florida on Sunday morning, bringing massive damage from wind and flooding to the fourth-largest state by population. Irma lashed the area with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph (215 kph) and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was expected to remain a powerful storm as it moved through the Florida Keys and near the state’s west coast. Some locals grumbled about the forecast, even though Florida’s west coast had long been included in the zone of probability. Charley was not a friend as he rolled through Punta Gorda.”

In a Tampa Bay Times report at the time, then-Governor Jeb Bush described Punta Gorda as “ground zero,” adding that “Our worst fears came true.” Over 1.1 million people were without power.
Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida as a category 4 hurricane, killing at least three people and knocking out power to over one million households.