Hurricane Irma regains Category 4 force; Indian missions set up helpline

Millions of people, including thousands of Indian-Americans, in Florida braced for Hurricane Irma as it regained strength as a Category 4 storm and aimed towards the coastal US state with wind speed of 210 km per hours.

Around 120,000 Indian-Americans reside across Florida while thousands of them live in the now-dangerous zones of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.

Miami and Tampa appeared "ghost towns" as nervous residents, many of whom struggled to cope with abandoning their homes, moved to safer places following mandatory evacuation notices.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said Irma regained strength as a Category 4 storm — after being downgraded to Category 3 for more than 12 hours — as it moved to Florida.

The deadly storm is expected to hit the US mainland around 7 am local time today. Its outer rain bands lashed the Florida Keys, the NWS said. A 127 kmph gust was recorded as Irma drew closer to Florida, CNN reported.

The Indian embassy in the US has opened a round-the-clock helpline number and rushed senior diplomats to Atlanta to lead relief efforts for Indian-Americans stuck in the region.
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