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Article snippet: MIAMI — As Hurricane Irma threatened to engulf virtually the entire state of Florida in deadly winds, driving rain and surging seas, the largest evacuation in the state’s history saw hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into crowded county shelters and jamming highways as they fled north from the storm. With the clock ticking, some counties issued curfews for Saturday, and more shelters were opened to absorb the crush of people seeking cover from one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Florida. Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, described Hurricane Irma as “a threat that is going to devastate the United States, either Florida or some of the southeastern states.” Irma has already flattened a chain of Caribbean islands, including Anguilla, Barbuda and the United States Virgin Islands, killing at least 20 people. Late Friday, the hurricane was making landfall on Cuba’s Camaguey Archipelago, still a Category 5 storm, the National Hurricane Center. Eric Silagy, the chief executive of Florida Power and Light Company, said in a news conference that power losses were expected to affect 4.1 million customers, or 9 million people in the state. He said that every part of Florida would be affected and that people could lose power for an extended period, possibly weeks. The number of customers affected in the state could be the largest ever. Airports and airlines raced to get flights off the ground Friday. Airport parking garages in... Link to the full article to read more