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Article snippet: Hurricane Irma, fresh on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, strengthened Monday into a Category 4 storm with 140-mile-per-hour winds, as Florida started to prepare for its potential landfall over the weekend. The latest forecasts have Irma on a more direct path toward South Florida, raising the possibility that the United States could be hit with back-to-back major hurricanes. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida declared a state of emergency on Monday for the state’s 67 counties. “Hurricane Irma is a major and life-threatening storm, and Florida must be prepared,” Mr. Scott said in a statement. The last hurricane to hit Florida was Matthew last October, which brushed up along its east coast before making landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1 storm. Mr. Scott said on Twitter that he had discussed the storm on Monday with President Trump, who “offered the full resources of the federal government as Floridians prepare for Hurricane Irma.” Coast Guard crew members and helicopters that assisted in rescue missions in southeast Texas for Hurricane Harvey were also starting to return to their home stations, including Florida, to prepare for Irma, a Coast Guard spokesman said. American Airlines announced late Monday that it had canceled several flights on Tuesday between Miami and the Caribbean destinations. The center of Irma was about 410 miles east of the Leeward Islands, which include Puerto Rico, as of late Monday and was expected to pass over them Tuesday night or early Wed... Link to the full article to read more