Live updates: Irma producing hurricane-force winds across central Florida

After blowing through the Caribbean and Florida Keys on Saturday, Category 2 Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida's Gulf Coast with life-threatening winds and storm surges.

At least 24 people were killed after Irma's destructive trek across the Caribbean. Earlier on Saturday, Florida Highway Patrol confirmed that a Hardee County sheriff's deputy and a corrections officer were killed in a head-on crash that was likely storm related, bringing the death toll to at least 26.

11 p.m.

The eye of Hurricane Irma continues to drift farther inland over Florida on a track that brings the storm toward Orlando and Central Florida.

Hurricane Irma remains a dangerous Category 2 hurricane despite weakening a bit more to 100 mph. It’s now bearing down on the Tampa-St. Petersburg region.

The National Hurricane Center says Irma’s eye is about 50 miles southeast of Tampa and moving at a fast clip of 14 mph. Still a large hurricane, its tropical storm force winds extend out 415 miles.

Forecasters say they expert Irma’s center to stay inland over Florida and then move into Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

They also expect Irma to weaken further into a tropical storm over far northern Florida or southern Georgia on Monday as it speeds up its forward motion. The hurricane center says the storm is still life-threatening with dangerous storm surge, wind and heavy rains.

The hurricane warning has been changed to a tropical storm warning from Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, as well as for the Florida Keys and Florida Bay.

9:25 p.m.

Miami International Airport has announced it will be closed Monday and begin only limited flights on Tuesday.

Orlando International Airport closed Saturday and won’t reopen to passenger traffic until after Hurricane Irma has passed, a damage assessment has been completed, necessary recovery efforts made and the airlines are consulted to determine when best to resume operations.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport says on its website it has no timetable yet to reopen. Its last flights were Friday.

Tampa International Airport also is closed as Hurricane Irma moves up the Florida peninsula.

Airlines are preparing their recovery schedules, which may take several days to execute.

9:00 p.m.

Hurricane Irma's top sustained winds have dropped to 105 mph. That's still a Category 2 storm, meaning extensive damage will occur.

More than 3.3 million homes and businesses - and counting - have lost power in Florida as Hurricane Irma moves up the peninsula.

The widespread outages stretch from the Florida Keys all the way into central Florida.
Florida Power & Light, the state's largest electric utility, said there were nearly 1 million customers without power in Miami-Dade County alone.

The power outages are expected to increase as the storm edges further north.
There are roughly 7 million residential customers in the state.

8 p.m.

Irma is located north of Naples, and dangerous storm surges are expected immediately after the eye passes along the west Florida coast.

Significant flooding is likely over the next five days in the Florida peninsula and southeast Georgia, a hurricane center forecaster said.

Flooding is also possible beginning Monday and Tuesday in much of eastern and central Georgia, western South Carolina, and western North Carolina, where average rainfall of 3 to 8 inches and isolated 12 inch amounts are expected, the hurricane center says.

Irma is expected to produce average amounts of 2 to 5 inches in parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, where isolated higher amounts and local flooding may occur, according to the center.

Maximum sustained winds are near 110 mph with higher gusts. Although weakening is expected, Irma will likely remain a hurricane at least through Monday morning.