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State of emergency in effect in both Carolinas ahead of Irma

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With Hurricane Irma settings its sights on the United States, preparations are underway in the Carolinas.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As Hurricane Irma continues on its track toward the United States as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, both Carolinas are under a state of emergency to prepare. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that a state of emergency would go into effect at 8 a.m. Thursday. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency for the Palmetto State Wednesday. 

In a press conference Friday night, Governor McMaster ordered the mandatory evacuation of barrier islands in three counties in preparation for Irma. Colleton County, Beaufort County, and Jasper County’s barrier islands are to be evacuated effective 10 a.m. ahead of the storm. McMaster also warned of a possible storm surge on the Carolina coast of 4-8 feet.

The latest on Hurricane Irma’s path has pushed the Carolinas to start preparing by declaring states of emergencies and panicking people to stock up on water and supplies.

 

Grocery Stores respond to Irma preparations

People are stocking up on bread and water, but will local grocery stores stay open when Irma hits?

Harris Teeter:

« We will share information about store closings or abbreviated hours on our website, www.harristeeter.com. There is not one but rather a variety of factors which could lead to the decision to close a store or abbreviate hours. A few of these factors are: unsafe conditions for our valued associates or shoppers; power outage; flood; inaccessibility due to road closures, etc.  Plans are in place to re-open as safely and quickly as possible any stores which may be required to close or abbreviate hours of operation. »

Publix:

« At this time our Charlotte area stores are operating under normal business hours. It’s still a bit too soon to determine future closures, however, we will continue to monitor the storm and advisories. The safety of our customers and associates is our main priority. Customers can stay updated on the status of our stores at publix.com/status. »

Walmart:

“We are tracking this storm in real time and staying closely connected with our store management teams, reminding our associates of emergency procedures and what to do before, during and after the storm. We will remain open for our customers as long as safe conditions prevail. If a mandatory evacuation is ordered, we will close our facilities with enough time for our associates to secure shelter for themselves and their families.” 

Irma scare pushes Carolinians into supply frenzy

In the aftermath of Harvey, Carolinians are getting prepared for the storm

As Irma looks to impact the East Coast early next week, people in the Carolinas are making sure they are prepared, even to the point of clearing grocery store shelves.

Carolinians flooded into grocery stores Wednesday as Hurricane Irma barrels closer to the coast.

“We have some regular groceries but we also got a lot of things preparing for the hurricane,” said Shelley Therman, as she and her husband Derrick loaded supplies into their SUV.

“Making sure we have plenty of batteries and the bottled water and things like that,” Keith said.

North and South Carolina have both declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

“Now is the time for people to get prepared,” warned Governor Roy Cooper at a news conference Wednesday evening.

Residents are heeding that warning.

At the same time, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein issued a stern warning on price gouging.

Three hundred and fifty complaints have been reported at gas stations across the state, 38 of those in Mecklenburg County.

If you want to report an incident of price gouging call 877-5-NOSCAM or visit NCDOJ.gov.

“We will pursue these complaints and make sure that any price increase happening at these gas stations is being done because of increase of cost to them and not because of greed and trying to exploit a tough situation,” said Stein.

With thousands evacuating Florida, many are now traveling north.

South Carolina says it is prepping road crews and making plans to keep drivers up to speed on conditions online and through the SCDOT call center.

As people continue to prepare for Hurricane Irma, Duke Energy is assembling thousands of line technicians to prepare for massive power outages.  

Duke Energy preparing for power outages

Local tree crews and energy companies are working together to prepare the city for winds that could knock out power to thousands.

« We have a team of meteorologists who are monitoring weather conditions 24-7, » said Meghan Miles of Duke Energy.

« Right now we are checking supplies, making sure equipment is ready and we have all the materials we need when repairs need to be made, » said Miles.

While Duke takes a patient approach, local tree services are booked for weeks.

« We’re backed out with regular work, » said Cormac Nagan, an arborist with Heartwood Tree Service. « But if storms come through and there’s emergency whether there’s structure or people in danger, those go to the top of the list. »

At least 12 dead after Irma slams the Caribbean

Authorities are struggling to get aid to small islands devastated by the storm’s record 185 mph winds.

Irma’s track continues to shift, putting the Carolinas at a greater risk of being impacted by the storm. 

As of the 2 p.m. Thursday advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Irma’s maximum sustained winds were at 175 mph. The storm is continuing to move west-northwest at 16 mph and is approaching the Dominican Republic. 

RELATED: Click here for Irma’s latest track and conditions

Irma left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean as it roared past Puerto Rico toward the Dominican Republic Thursday. According to USA TODAY, at least 10 people have died and authorities are struggling to get aid to several small Caribbean islands devastated by the storm’s powerful winds. Barbuda’s prime minister said the island was « barely habitable » after the storm.

The First Warn Storm Team warns not to let your guard down as Irma’s path shifts west. « This is not going to miss us, » said Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich. « It’s just that the threats are going down.  I think a lot of folks are ‘oh, it’s shifting west.  All clear.  Let’s go back to normal.’  Not so much. We’re still going to get 30-40 mph winds and we’re likely going to see 2-4 inches of rain.  That’s enough to bring down trees. »

How to prepare a hurricane supply kit

With the loss of electricity possible for several days, there are a number of items you’ll want to have handy in an easily accessible place.

Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich says it’s important to remain weather aware stay prepared, even several days before the storm is expected to reach the area.

Here is a checklist of recommended items:

  • Cash (ATMs may not work)
  • Car charger for cell phones and other devices
  • Drinking water (recommended 1 gallon per person per day, minimum three days)
  • Prescription medication (Two-week supply)
  • Batteries: Extra batteries for all of your devices
  • Battery-operated weather radio/clock
  • Food: Lay in a three-day supply of canned goods and items that don’t require refrigeration. Secure a hand-operated can opener, as well as any necessary pet food.
  • Additional items: First aid kit, flashlights, helmets, and blankets. Also, store any essential documents in a watertight container. 

Depending on how far away the storm is, Panovich said it’s good to have what he calls the « Ready, Set, Go » method of preparation. 

HOW TO REPORT AN OUTAGE

To report a power outage to Duke Energy, you can call 1-800-769-3766. You can also report outages online by clicking here.

If you see a fallen power line or a safety hazard, call Duke Energy officials at 1-800-769-3766. To check the status of current power outages, click here.

For the latest weather conditions with live alerts and updates, download the NBC Charlotte mobile app and the WCNC Weathercaster app today. 

How to keep your home, pets family safe for Hurricane Irma

Officials are urging everyone to take preventative actions when it comes to being safe

Experts and city authorities are letting people know what they can do to prepare for Irma so their families and belongings will be safe during the storm.

I. YOUR HOME

Downed trees are likely going to be a big issue for the Carolinas.

“It’s going to be chaos,” said Tim Young, who owns Tim Young tree service in Charlotte.

“These winds will snap pine trees like graham crackers. They will impale a house with a viciousness. They can kill you in a high wind.”

Unfortunately, Young says most, if not all, tree companies are booked solid.

“It’s too late now,” he said. “The best thing you can do is get your cars from out from under the trees. If you have a two-story house, sleep on the bottom floor.”

II. YOUR PETS

CMPD animal care and control offered the following tips regarding your pets:

  • Call your veterinarian and have them email a copy of your pet’s most up-to-date records. Include the pet’s rabies certificate. Print these out and store in a Ziploc gallon size bag in your emergency kit for your pet.
  • Take a pet selfie! Take a photo of you and your pet with your smart phone so you have a recent photo of you with your pet. This proves ownership. Take additional photos of your pet: Close up of face, body shot. This helps with identification if you were to be separated from your pet.
  • Update your microchip! Make sure your pet’s microchip registration is up to date with your most recent address and phone number.
  • If your pet is not microchipped, ACC is holding a clinic this Saturday, Sept 9 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the ACC shelter at 8315 Byrum Drive in Charlotte. Mecklenburg County residents can: get a free rabies vaccine, get a free collar ID tag, get a $10 microchip.
  • Make sure your pet is wearing a collar with an ID tag that is up to date with your most recent address and phone number.
  • If your pet is on special medication, check your supply and make sure you have at least 2 weeks’ worth to pack in your emergency to go kit for your pet.
  • If you don’t have an emergency kit for your pet, start working on one now.
  • Make sure your pet’s vaccinations are up to date.
  • The Lucky Dog Bark Brew Charlotte is also reserving 30 kennels for evacuees at discounted rates. Call 704.333.4114 for Charlotte or 704.896.5550 for Lake Norman.

III. YOUR CHILDREN

School districts in our area — including CMS, Rock Hill, Clover, York, Fort Mill, Lancaster and Union County schools — all say it’s too early to tell if schools will be canceled.

“We do precautionary drills beforehand so children know what to do, in this case, for weather related incidents,” a CMS spokesperson said. “We have people here monitoring the weather and they will make decisions based on the forecast as it comes up.”

All school districts encourage parents to update their contact information with their child’s school so they can be easily contacted in case of an emergency or cancellation.

“We wouldn’t advise parents to keep their children home unless there was an announcement made,” CMS leaders told NBC Charlotte. “The superintendent would make that call. Parents need to know that they should make sure their contact information with the school is updated so the school has the correct number. Updates are pushed through the school.”

Extreme Hurricane Irma closing in on Florida, posing dire threat; west coast most at risk

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(This story, first published Friday, will be updated throughout Saturday morning. It was last updated to incorporate the 8 a.m. National Hurricane Center advisory as well as new model information, offering greater confidence Florida’s west coast is most at risk.)

The extraordinarily large and intense Hurricane Irma is drawing ever closer to South Florida and the first rain bands are pivoting across extreme South Florida. A hurricane catastrophe has become nearly unavoidable; it’s only a matter of what areas are hardest hit and how severely.

Computer model information overnight Friday early Saturday suggest Irma is most likely to track up Florida’s west coast. Although small shifts in the track are still possible, the Florida Keys, Naples, Fort Myers, and Tampa, all seem likely to be severely impacted.

Irrespective of the storm’s exact track, damaging winds are likely to blast most if not all of the Florida peninsula. With the storm still more than two hundred miles away, Miami International Airport clocked a wind gust of 57 mph just after 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

[Everything you need to know about Hurricane Irma]

Irma is comparable in strength to Hurricane Andrew, which devastated parts of South Florida in 1992, but much larger in size.

“Irma is likely to make landfall in Florida as a dangerous major hurricane, and will bring life-threatening wind impacts to much of the state,” the National Hurricane Center said.

The Hurricane Center had hoisted hurricane warnings for much of South and Central Florida on both coasts, reaching north of Tampa and Melbourne. Hurricane watches extended somewhat further north.


(National Hurricane Center)

Landfall from the storm is most likely to occur sometime Sunday, when Irma’s most destructive winds will move ashore, but tropical-storm-force winds are expected to progress up the Florida peninsula during the day Saturday.

A storm-surge warning was also issued for much of the South and Central Florida coastline, past Tampa on the west coast and Melbourne on the east coast, because of the potential for water to rise up to 6 to 12 feet above normally dry land at the coast. The Hurricane Center said this would bring the risk of “dangerous” and “life-threatening” inundation and that the threat was highest along Florida’s southwest coast and in the Florida Keys.

“Few people alive have experienced a storm like this,” wrote Bryan Norcross, a hurricane specialist at Weather Channel. “It is reminiscent of the great hurricanes that unleashed their fury on Florida in the first seven decades of the 20th Century.”

By early next week, Georgia, South Carolina and the interior Southeast could be in the storm’s crosshairs

In its 8 a.m. update, the Hurricane Center said the storm was positioned 225 miles south of Miami and chugging along to the west-northwest at 12 mph.

As the eye of the storm moved over the north coast of Cuba early Saturday, its circulation was disrupted some by the land mass which caused the storm to weaken to a Category 4, with peak winds of 130 mph. On Friday night, it had briefly regained Category 5 intensity, packing 160 mph winds, just before making landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba. It became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in Cuba since 1924.

Once Irma moves back over the water of the Florida straits, some of the warmest in the world (nearly 90 degrees), it is forecast to restrengthen some.

The Hurricane Center said to expect fluctuations in the storm’s intensity through Sunday but that, in most scenarios, “Irma is expected to remain at least a Category 4 hurricane until landfall in Florida.”

It urged residents of Florida to rush preparations to completion.

“This hurricane is as serious as any I have seen,” tweeted Eric Blake, a forecaster at the Hurricane Center. “No hype, just the hard facts. Take every life saving precaution you can.”

Meanwhile, Hurricane Katia made landfall along in Mexico’s Gulf Coast Friday evening. And on Saturday, Hurricane Jose, which was nearly a Category 5, could hit some of the same small islands in the northern Lesser Antilles ravaged by Irma, including Antigua and Barbuda. Hurricane warnings were in effect.

[Hurricane Katia hits Mexico while Jose could slam same islands ravaged by Irma Saturday]

Potential effects on Florida

Several storm scenarios are possible in Florida, depending on the exact track Irma takes, but they are all disastrous due to Irma’s size and strength.

Hurricane-force winds expand 70 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds expand 195 miles from the center. This implies that the entire peninsula, which is about 150 miles across, will be exposed to tropical-storm-force winds and most or all of it to hurricane-force winds.

Norcross, the meteorologist who became a hero in South Florida for guiding the region through Hurricane Andrew, called the threat “EXTREME.”

Tropical-storm-force winds are expected to reach South Florida between Saturday morning and early afternoon as Irma approaches from the south-southeast.


(National Hurricane Center)

Then, the all-important northward turn is still expected to take place early Sunday, when the storm would make landfall and unleash its worst effects. The most destructive winds and largest storm surge usually focus immediately to the northeast of where the center comes ashore. So exactly where the northward turn occurs is a critical question for Florida.

As of Saturday morning, the most likely scenario based on computer-model guidance was that the storm will track along or just inland of Florida’s west coast. Landfall is most likely to occur somewhere on the west coast but the Hurricane Center said “it is extremely difficult to pinpoint exactly where the center might move onshore.”


Group of simulations from American (blue) and European (red) computer models from Friday night. Each color strand represents a different model simulation with slight tweaks to initial conditions. Note that the strands are clustered together where the forecast track is most confident but they diverge where the course of the storm is less certain. The bold red line is the average of all of the European model simulations, while the blue is the average of all the American model simulations.(StormVistaWxModels.com)

Models, however, can shift. The average error in hurricane forecasts 36 hours before landfall is about 50 (or one-third of the width of the peninsula) so a track up the spine of Florida, somewhat closer to the east coast is still possible – though becoming less likely.

[Video: Comparing Hurricane Irma with Andrew in 1992]

If the storm buzz-saws up the west coast, then Key West, Naples, Fort Myers, Tampa and Tallahassee would face severe effects – and this scenario has become most likely. If it runs up the spine of the peninsula, the storm will be quicker to decay, but hurricane-force winds would reach both coasts. Least likely, if the storm tracks closer to Florida’s east coast, then Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Melbourne, Daytona Beach and Jacksonville will take devastating hits.


The European and American model forecasts run Friday morning show the storm making landfall near the southwest tip of Florida midday Sunday, and then coming up the spine of Florida. Model shifts are still possible. (WeatherBell.com)

When Irma makes its closest approach to Florida — some time Sunday — the Hurricane Center predicts that it will produce Category 4 winds. Here is its description of the kind of damage Category 4 winds would inflict:

Catastrophic damage will occur: Well-built framed homes can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and/or some exterior walls. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Note that such extreme winds are typically confined to the eye wall, which is only about 10 to 15 miles wide. That is why the exact track is important in terms of where the most severe wind damage concentrates.

[Graphics: How big is Hurricane Irma?]

It’s important to note that wind speeds will increase with altitude, so high-rise buildings will be exposed to even stronger winds, up to a hurricane category stronger on the upper floors.

Due to the likelihood of widespread damaging winds, one model run by researchers at several universities projects that more than 2.5 million customers in Florida and the Southeastern United States will lose power.

“Peak power outages for Hurricane Harvey were between 300,000 and 400,000, so this is many times larger than that,” said Seth Guikema, a researcher at the University of Michigan leading this modeling effort

Regardless of exactly where Irma tracks, many coastal population centers in Florida will experience a devastating storm surge of 6 to 12 feet above normally dry land, inundating roads, homes and businesses. The most severe storm surge will focus immediately north-northeast of where the storm center crosses land – which could be near the southwest tip of Florida and then along Florida’s west coast, including Marco Island, Naples, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, and up to Tampa, perhaps.

The Hurricane Center predicts all of the Florida Keys to see a storm surge of 5 to 10 feet. “It’s not clear that it’s a survivable situation for anybody that is still there in the Keys,” said Ed Rappaport, acting director of the National Hurricane Center in a television interview.

Over the Florida peninsula, 8 to 20 inches of rain is forecast, with the heaviest amounts most likely in the south. Flash flooding is likely to occur.


5-day rainfall forecast. (National Hurricane Center)

Potential effects on Georgia and the Southeast

Beyond Florida, there is the likelihood for damaging winds, flooding rain and a coastal storm surge farther north. Georgia is likely to see some of the worst effects Sunday night into Monday.

Irrespective of Irma’s track its circulation is enormous so it would still likely push a significant storm surge toward the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

Tropical-storm and even hurricane-force winds are also likely to affect much of Georgia and downed trees and power outages could be a big problem there. Strong winds could expand into southern South Carolina and eastern Alabama as Monday wears on.

Heavy rains are also likely to swell north and west into Alabama, Tennessee, and western North Carolina Monday into Tuesday.

“All areas seeing heavy rainfall from Irma will experience a risk of flooding and flash flooding,” the Hurricane Center said.

Irma’s path so far

On Friday, before making landfall along Cuba’s north central coast, Irma passed north of Haiti and then between Cuba’s northeast coast and the Central Bahamas.

Thursday evening, the center of the storm passed very close to the Turks and Caicos, producing potentially catastrophic Category 5 winds. The storm surge was of particular concern, as the water had the potential to rise 16 to 20 feet above normally dry land in coastal sections north of the storm center, causing extreme inundation.

A devastating storm surge and destructive winds had also likely battered the southeastern Bahamas, near Great Inagua Island.

Through early Thursday, the storm had battered islands from Puerto Rico to the northern Lesser Antilles.

While the center of Irma passed just north of Puerto Rico late Wednesday, a wind gust of 63 mph was clocked in San Juan early Wednesday evening, and more than 900,000 people were reported to be without power. In Culebra, Puerto Rico, a small island 17 miles east of the mainland, a wind gust registered 111 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday afternoon, the storm’s eye had moved over Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, and its southern eye wall (the region of most powerful winds) raked St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Early Wednesday afternoon, a wind gust to 131 mph was clocked on Buck Island and 87 mph on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the hurricane passed directly over Barbuda and St. Martin in the northern Leeward Islands, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in that region and tied with the 1935 Florida Keys hurricane as the strongest Atlantic storm to strike land.

As Barbuda took a direct hit, the weather station there clocked a wind gust to 155 mph before it went offline.

The storm also passed directly over Anguilla and St. Martin early Wednesday, causing severe damage.

Irma’s place in history

Irma’s peak intensity (185 mph) ranks among the strongest in recorded history, exceeding the likes of Katrina, Andrew and Camille — whose winds peaked at 175 mph.

Among the most intense storms on record, it trails only Hurricane Allen in 1980, which had winds of 190 mph. It is tied for second-most intense with Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and the 1935 Florida Keys hurricane.

The storm maintained maximum wind speeds of at least 180 mph for 37 hours, longer than any storm on Earth on record, passing Super Typhoon Haiyan, the previous record-holder (24 hours).

Late Tuesday, its pressure dropped to 914 millibars (the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm), ranking as the lowest of any storm on record outside the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic basin.

The storm has generated the most “accumulated cyclone energy,” a measure of a storm’s duration and intensity, of any hurricane on record.

Without a doubt, the World Meteorological Organization will retire the names Harvey and Irma after this season. While there have been several instances of consecutive storm names getting retired (Rita and Stan 2005, Ivan and Jeanne 2004, Isabel and Juan 2003, Luis and Marilyn 1995), the United States has been hit by more than one Category 4+ hurricane in a season only one time: 1915. Two Category 4 hurricanes hit in Texas and Louisiana six weeks apart that year.

Capital Weather Gang hurricane expert Brian McNoldy contributed to this report. Credit to tropical-weather expert and occasional Capital Weather Gang contributor Phil Klotzbach for some of the statistics in this section.

Increasing Digital Campaign Efficacy With ‘Intelligent’ Branded Lifestyle Entertainment Video Content (Guest)

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By Jason Meninger, Founding Partner, OutdoorFlics

Who would’ve imagined a vinegar company could create entertaining, relatable content that a youthful, media-fickle audience would actually watch? Sarson’s did—and they nailed it!

A legacy product with diminishing mindshare, and desperately needing to attract a younger audience, Sarson’s employed a video marketing campaign targeting Gen X/Y prospects based on complementary content they most commonly searched YouTube for. What Sarson’s discovered—recipes, home cooking, and pickling were the highest-trending keywords—led them to create a series of original recipe videos that illustrated various uses for vinegar in a fun, engaging way.

The Sarson’s case study illustrates intelligent branded content strategy development and execution at its best, in which a target audience is precisely determined before either a storyboard or media plan is ever developed. Moreover, branded content strategies are increasingly evolving into branded ‘entertainment’ programming, in which lifestyle-centric content is strategically aligned with key brand attributes and tenets, then distributed through data-driven, cross-platform strategies with precision targeting to ensure consumption by the right audience, on the right device, at the right time.

Numerous studies confirm that video consumption—primarily, mobile—is dominating online activity (we’ve quickly become a video-first society), as well as the definitive correlation between video viewing and purchasing behaviors. As such, brands and marketers can no longer afford to sit idly on the sidelines, clinging to their traditional marketing strategies, lest they risk losing out to competitors.

In a survey of 1,000 consumers and 500 marketers, Animoto’s annual report on video, “The State of Social Video 2017: Marketing in a Video First World”, yielded several key findings worth any savvy video marketer’s consideration:

  • 64% of consumers purchase after watching branded social videos
  • 84% watch on mobile devices
  • Content consumers are most likely to like and share: ‘behind-the-scenes,’ funny, educational, and emotional videos
  • 48% of marketers create 4+ videos every month, and 27% create 6+ videos every month (based on companies that have created at least two videos in the past year)
  • 81% of marketers optimize their social videos for mobile viewership

That brands are cranking out more videos to engage with their customers is not surprising, but where some brands fail is in the lack of strategy with their digital distribution. Without methodology behind the content, it’s like blasting a confetti cannon into the ether rather than a Navy SEAL using a laser-guided scope to hit its target.

The upstream work of determining a brand’s buyer persona is paramount, and is the cornerstone of the data-driven ‘Intelligent Marketing Philosophy’ approach we take with clients. Compiling the right data up front leads to the desired downstream results, as not only does data drive the micro-targeted digital distribution (we’ll touch more on that in the second article of this two-piece series), but also the creative. Simply put, understanding one’s buyer persona is critical to crafting content they’ll find irresistible. (No more wasted time and money on high-end productions that don’t resonate with your target audience.) A well-developed intelligent marketing strategy will enable a brand to re-establish, and strengthen, brand awareness with its existing core customers and prospects, as well as reach a completely new customer universe of look-alikes.

A final study we’ll leave you with is a client of ours—leading commercial-grade mowing equipment manufacturer, Exmark Mfg. Co. At the onset of our partnership, we operated under the assumption that their primary audience was a wealthy gentleman farmer-type living on five to 10 acres. While confirmed as likely buyers, the new data-based, ‘Exmark Guy’ persona we developed revealed that a much larger customer universe existed—particularly middle-aged, blue-collar family men with average HHIs, and residing on two acres or more.

Armed with a broader consumer set to introduce the Exmark brand to, we developed an informative, inspirational Done-in-a-Weekend branded web series that catered to this audience’s DIY sensibilities. Hosted by a landscape design expert, each short-form video provided simple, cost-effective projects to enhance outdoor living spaces.

The 12-week branded entertainment campaign—a key component within Exmark’s overall 2017 marketing mix—far exceeded expectations, generating 14,347 hours (598 days) of video engagement time, 616,693 high-engagement (:30 or more) views, and nearly twice the stay-time on the DIY campaign landing page as the Brand campaign landing page. As important, Exmark realized measurable sales increases as a result of the initiative.

In part two of this series, we’ll delve deeper into the digital distribution methodologies that helped drive measurable results by delivering authentic, lifestyle content to Exmark’s custom buyer persona.

Jason Meninger bio/OutdoorFlics boilerplate

Jason Meninger is a founding partner of OutdoorFlics—a digital-first, video-centric, data-driven, lifestyle-content brand agency that combines integrated, results-driven marketing expertise with publishing DNA and cutting-edge IP-based distribution strategies. Meninger has more than 25 years of media strategy and publishing experience, and helped transform the business from a traditional ad agency to an innovative digital studio and media lab.

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How video marketing can fast-forward client enquiries

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As the legal world evolves, so will the way in which legal services are delivered.

In order to keep up with changing client needs, it’s vital that you understand how best to connect with consumers, with video set to be the most effective tool to date.

As explained in Solve Legal’s free Video Marketing White Paper, the benefits of using video to engage with clients are being tapped into by a growing number of firms, and it’s not hard to see why. Over 50% of people watch videos online every day; by using it in the legal market, firms are able to engage with consumers in a way that they’re familiar with, setting them apart from competitors and delivering results fast.

How is the market changing?

With access to hundreds of firms at the tap of a screen, the legal market has shifted in favour of the consumer. The online world has provided choice along with the ability to compare firms, meaning those looking for legal assistance are no longer forced to choose the local firm at the end of their high street.

Whilst choice is never a bad thing, the huge number of options available for consumers can often be overwhelming.

Analysing costs and ploughing through paragraphs of legal jargon can just present your potential client with more problems – the last thing they need when they’re desperately in search of a solution.

How do you show the consumer that your services are right for them?

In order to stand out amongst competitors, it’s essential to engage with the consumer in a way which demonstrates that you’re on the same page. Law firms are often daunting places for potential clients, so it’s vital to show that you understand their problem, whilst at the same time, informing them how your services are best equipped to get it sorted.

What’s the best way to do this?

As the freshest and fastest growing marketing tool, using video to connect with clients is one of the most effective ways to stand out above competitors and grab the attention of consumers.

Already harnessed by some of the biggest legal firms such as Stephensons and RPC, businesses are only just starting to realise the promotional benefits that video marketing has to offer, not to mention the versatility of this new marketing tool.

How can using video help your firm?

Having recognised the specific benefits that video marketing can have for law firms, Solve Legal has created a free White Paper explaining how your firm can take advantage of its untapped potential in the legal market.

Specifically targeting the legal sector, this detailed White Paper covers:

  • How video marketing can establish your firm’s brand and boost engagement.
  • The different types of videos that your firm can benefit from and the ones which will suit your firm.
  • How to implement videos into your firm’s wider marketing strategy.

To download your free White Paper and discover how your firm can fast-forward client enquiries, click here.

This article was submitted to be published by Solve Legal as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.

IBM’s Watson AI Can’t Completely Replace Video Editors at US Open–Yet

Video Marketing,

Screen from IBM's SlamTracker application for detecting the highlights of tennis matches.

[Barron’s contributor Nathaniel Wice was at the U.S. Open in New York Wednesday night at an event sponsored by IBM, and filed this report for Tech Trader.]

As the thrilling upset unfolded Wednesday night of #1-ranked Roger Federer by #24-seeded Juan Martín del Potro, the upper decks led the stadium singing, “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Delpo, Delpo!” and IBM (IBM) SlamTracker dutifully  reported that Federer was still winning two-to-one on Twitter (TWTR) with hashtag mentions.

This is the 28th year IBM is sponsoring the US Open to woo press and clients, but the highlight of the visit for tech-heads has been moved away from the corporate box where it’s usually found to a data operations room down a cinderblock hallway in the bowels of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

IBM’s showcase feature this year has Watson, the quasi-personified, catch-all marketing term for IBM’s data-analysis services, compiling its own video highlights. Watson analyzes the ESPN broadcast feed for cheering and for player gestures, along with the significance of the point in the match, to compute a rankable « Excitement Score » for every video clip.

The idea is to identify a big come-from-behind break point or electrifying rally, in the process demonstrating IBM capabilities that might be useful, say, to a retailer or manufacturer for learning from aisle traffic or shop-floor activity.

IBM's A.I. command center inside the Arthur Ashe Center during the U.S. Open tournament.

Another Watson-powered feature combines the same point-by-point, match-by-match data feed — Madison Keys wins with an ace; CoCo Vandeweghe errs at the net — with automated analytics like the running match count of total aces. (Try it out for yourself in the free US Open 2017 app or at the U.S Open site.)

Watson’s nascent artificial intelligence also makes stabs at strategic commentary based on the ongoing gameplay in the context of eight years of Grand Slam Tennis data, such as where Nadal tends to hit winners, how many second-serve points he can afford to lose, whether he’s rushing the net more than usual, though you’d expect more from a real live Joe Buck.

“We’re using sports as a platform to perfect this,” says IBM’s sports marketing manager Elizabeth O’Brien.

In the meantime human video editors may still find employment for the time being: O’Brien reports with amusement that Watson was compiling odd highlights for Venus Williams until the IBM team realized Watson thought that Venus was pumping her fist in victory when she was merely reaching in between games for a towel.

The US Open concludes this weekend with the Women’s Final on Saturday afternoon and the Men’s on Sunday.

Goldman Sachs Investment, PayPal Cash Back Card Make Small Business Headlines

Video Marketing,

When you’re just starting a business, having some help in the form of education, training and even financing can provide a huge boost. This week, Goldman Sachs announced a new investment in the Baltimore small business community that could give businesses that essential boost early on.

You can read about the new investment, along with other updates from PayPal and more in this week’s Small Business Trends news and information roundup.

 

Finance

Goldman  Sachs Announces New $10 Million Investment in Baltimore Small Businesses

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) just announced a new $10 million investment in Baltimore small businesses. The latest investment is a continuation of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program in Baltimore, an initiative aimed at creating jobs and economic growth in the area.

PayPal’s New Cash Back Mastercard Could Encourage Your Customers to Buy More from You

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) has announced a new cashback Mastercard credit card. The new card may encourage your customers to make more purchases with cash rewards and make it even easier for you to accept in-store credit cards. The PayPal Cashback Mastercard was launched in a partnership between PayPal and Synchrony Financial.

Economy

New Canadian Tax Legislation Could Be Hugely Damaging to Small Businesses

A set of proposed tax code changes in Canada could potentially have a negative impact on small businesses north of the border. And even though U.S. businesses might not see any immediate impact due to these changes, the impact on partners, clients and others in Canada could eventually make a difference to U.S. businesses as well.

Employment

What is Google Hire, And How Can Your Small Business Use It for Recruiting?

Finding the right talent for your small business has just become easier. And he solution won’t cost thousands of dollars. Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has entered the recruiting space with a new app geared specifically to small businesses. The app makes Google another player in an already crowded recruiting software marketplace.

Interviews

Who Knew? A Small Business Powers Major TV Shows

The team at Telescope.tv might be small in size, but the interactive experiences they deliver are globally scalable. As a social and video solutions specialist for Fortune 500 brands such as CNN, FOX News, the NBA, Vans, Twitter and Facebook, Telescope has a client list any small business would envy — including all the case studies to underscore their hard-earned reputation.

Marketing Tips

17 Percent of Small Businesses Still Advertise Regularly in the Newspaper

You’d have a hard time convincing small business owners that print is dead. But perhaps someone should try. In a new survey of small business owners, researchers with G2 Crowd learned that 17 percent of small business owners still regularly run promotions in the newspaper.

B2B Influencer Marketing: Trends, Goals and Budgets to Set

Influencer marketing has made a huge impact on a lot of B2C businesses. But B2B businesses shouldn’t feel left out. The strategy has a lot of applications for businesses that offer products or services to other businesses as well, though it might look a bit different. Lee Odden is the CEO of TopRank Marketing, a B2B marketing agency that offers influencer marketing services.

61  Percent of Consumers Prefer Promotional Email to Other Small Business Communications

Email is arguably the lifeblood of modern business. Small business consumers still prefer longer form, more intimate email messages from brands. Sixty-one percent of consumers report preferring to receive offers via email as oppose to other communication methods like Slack and Snapchat. So says a recent Adobe Campaign consumer survey.

10 Things Your Small Business Can Learn About Marketing from Apple (INFOGRAPHIC)

Building a universally loved brand without engaging in price wars against competitors is not easy. But one brand that has achieved this seemingly impossible feat is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Behind Apple’s phenomenal success lies its strong product portfolio and design standards.

App Lets Customers Invest in Your Small Restaurant By Paying for Food — in Advance

One of the major challenges of running a food related business is finding a way to pay for the ingredients and supplies you need to make your products before getting any money for actually selling them. But a new app aims to change that for small businesses.

Sales

LiveShopCast Turns Your eCommerce or Retail Store Into a Home Shopping Channel

Video lets you make more impactful connections with your audience, which gives you a better chance to turn them into customers. If the video is live, the impact is even greater. This has led many platforms to deploy live video, but what LiveShopCast has done is to directly drive eCommerce revenue at the same time.

Small Biz Spotlight

Spotlight: Algomus Offers Chatbot Technology for Business Use

Chatbots offer a variety of potential benefits for businesses. And Algomus is a tech startup that was one of the early adopters of AI technology, creating a chatbot that can help businesses with some of the more tedious data related tasks. Learn more about Algomus and the company’s chatbot, Algo, in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

Small Business Operations

Does Your Small Business Need Commercial Flood Insurance?

Josh Beasley opened a gym in Houston that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey. He expects the cleanup and rebuild to cost $35,000. Don’t think you have any need for commercial flood insurance for your small business? Some statistics from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) might change your mind.

Social Media

Instagram-Based Small Business New Fork City Nears a Million Followers

Scroll through Instagram on any given day and you’ll likely see more than a few pictures of food. But did you know that those food pictures could also represent a business opportunity? Gillian Presto, Emily Morse and Natalie Landsberg are three college students who have built an entire business around sharing food photos on Instagram.

Technology Trends

31 Percent Say They’ve Arrived Late or Missed an Online Meeting Due to Tech Problems

There’s a push-pull dynamic surrounding remote workers. They could be saving your small business a lot of money but they can hinder productivity. A new study from CyberLink reveals just how disruptive some remote workers can be to small businesses. And it also shows just how much workers from home believe that dynamic hinders their work.

Lenovo Yoga 920 Offers Tools for Mobile Entrepreneurs – But is Hardly Budget Friendly

With the 8th generation Intel Core processors, the Lenovo Yoga 920 might’ve just made a huge year-over-year mobile processor upgrade. And businesses, including small businesses engaged in design and other creative fields may end up the big beneficiaries.

Logitech  CRAFT Keyboard Should Help Small Businesses to Edit Video, Work In Adobe and More

Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) has introduced a new flagship keyboard that features a creative input dial, which should grab the attention of small businesses users who do video editing, use Photoshop and more.

Nest Unveils New Smart Thermostat to Help Your Small Business Save Even More

With the average monthly commercial energy bill coming in at $670 nationwide in 2015, the new Nest Thermostat E may be a welcome option in two ways. First, the company says the new Nest continue to save your business money by managing your energy usage. Second, the device is also $80 cheaper than its predecessor.

Does Your Small Business Need Data Breach Insurance?

Cyber security breaches cost businesses billions of dollars each year. Breaches in 2016 reached a record peak. Data from the Identity Theft Resource Center reveals in 2016, U.S. businesses and government agencies suffered a record 1,093 data breaches, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.

Motorola’s New Moto X4 Offers Pros and Cons for Your Small Business

Motorola (NYSE:MSI) is resurrecting its Moto X line with a fourth generation called the Moto X4. With Amazon’s Alexa and a rugged build, the X4 can be an affordable utilitarian phone for small businesses. Since being discontinued in 2016, the has phone lost its place as the company’s flagship mobile device.  The distinction is now held by the Moto Z2 lineup.

Goldman Sachs Photo via Shutterstock


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6 tips: Credit union videos – Where should you start?

Video Marketing,


I recently participated in an amazing webinar masterclass by Hubspot about SEO for Video, with SEO expert Eric Enge.  The overall content for the webinar was primarily centered around YouTube and how to master SEO for video success there.  As a digital marketing agency for credit unions, we found his advice to be very helpful and relevant for our market.  Here are 6 tips we wanted to share with you from the webinar to create effective credit union videos.

Tip 1: YouTube has a different ranking algorithm for videos than Google.

During the webinar, Eric showed some ranking results for a query he did on Google and compared it to the same search on YouTube for videos.  Surprisingly the videos ranked differently on both platforms (see image below).  This is surprising because intuitively you’d think that it would be the same ranking, since Google owns YouTube, but there are differences.  Make sure your video has a good title, description, and category to rank higher on YouTube.

Tip 2: Increase your total view time for YouTube video with paid social promotion.

Paid social promotion for your videos on YouTube will drive up your organic traffic for those videos. YouTube operates on a “total session time” type of model as part of its algorithm.  As long as people are watching videos associated with your video, then that will also drive up your organic traffic.

continue reading »

3 Equifax Executives Sold Stock Days After Hack That Wasn’t Disclosed For A Month

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Three executives of the credit-reporting agency Equifax sold nearly $2 million worth of company stock within days of a massive data breach potentially affecting 143 million Americans — one that wasn’t publicly disclosed until more than a month later.

In a statement, Equifax says the executives « had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time they sold their shares. »

Equifax revealed the security breach late Thursday. On Friday, its stock price went sliding by double digits, as millions of Americans struggled to get answers from the company about whether they were affected and what to do next. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into the hack.

Hackers Accessed The Personal Data Of 143 Million People, Equifax Says

The credit-reporting company has said that it discovered « unauthorized access » to its systems on July 29. The intrusion potentially jeopardized sensitive details including names, birth dates, Social Security and driver’s license numbers. The hackers also stole credit card numbers for 209,000 consumers.

Regulatory filings show the three Equifax executives — Chief Financial Officer John Gamble, U.S. Information Solutions President Joseph Loughran and Workforce Solutions President Rodolfo Ploder — completed stock sales on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2.

Bloomberg, which first located the filings, reports that « none of the filings lists the transactions as being part of 10b5-1 scheduled trading plans. »

The statement from Equifax notes that the executives sold « a small percentage of their Equifax shares » before they knew of the cybersecurity breach — and that the company « acted immediately to stop the intrusion » after discovering it.

Meanwhile, many consumers trying to figure out the fate of their own personal information are left puzzled by the company’s sputtering response so far.

Equifax has set up a website (www.equifaxsecurity2017.com) and a call center (866-447-7559) to offer help. As is common with data breaches, consumers are offered a free credit-monitoring service. Equifax is offering its own program, TrustedID Premier, for a year.

The large volume of inquiries has caused glitchy performance from the site and the phone line. In some cases, people were told nobody was available to answer their calls. In other instances, as detailed by cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs, the website delivered a « system unavailable » message.

In order to learn whether a specific user’s information is breached, the website asks people to type in a name and the last six digits of a Social Security number — « the kind of information they’re often warned not to reveal online, » as Bloomberg notes.

Once users get through, the website doesn’t automatically enroll them in TrustedID credit monitoring — instead, the site issues a date, about a week in the future, when the user would have to return to complete the enrollment.

Equifax also drew fire for the several restrictive clauses it included in the legal terms that applied to its customer-help website and the free credit-monitoring service.

Users and experts had started pointing out that the company was imposing a so-called arbitration clause on the users, which essentially restricted their right to sue the company or be part of a class-action in the future.

Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, said specifically that such legal restrictions had appeared to apply to people taking advantage of the TrustedID Premier service that Equifax was offering as a courtesy.

After pressure from consumer advocates and New York’s attorney general, Equifax on Friday afternoon added a new line to its FAQ section:

« The arbitration clause and class action wavier included in the TrustedID Premier Terms of Use applies to the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products, and not the cybersecurity incident. »

On its face, this line might suggest that Equifax would not restrict people’s ability to hold the company legally accountable for potential damages specifically from the data breach.

« But when rubber meets the road, » Rheingold says, « we’ll see. »

NPR’s Sarah Knight, Les Cook, Steve Mullis and Chris Arnold contributed to this report.

At least 32 killed in massive earthquake off Mexico coast

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MEXICO CITY — Minutes before midnight, warning sirens blared across this earthquake-anxious capital.

This, in itself, was not unusual. Temblors are common here, and in recent years Mexico City has held annual disaster drills, revamped building codes and installed sophisticated sensors to be ready for an emergency. Many residents still have keen memories of the calamitous 1985 earthquake that killed at least 5,000 people here and left a quarter-million homeless.

But minutes after the sirens began wailing late Thursday, hanging houseplants started swaying and books tumbled from shelves. Plaster cracked. Streetlights shimmied like reeds in the wind. Lights went black. In pajamas and barefoot, with babies swaddled in blankets, residents rushed out of their apartments to wait in the darkened streets.

This was no drill.

This was an 8.1-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful tremor in Mexico in the past 100 years, according to President Enrique Peña Nieto, felt by some 50 million people. Mexico City, with many of its newer buildings built to withstand severe tremors, was spared significant damage, but the earthquake left pockets of destruction across southern states such as Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco.

[Gallery: Devastation after Mexico’s strongest quake in a century]

By Friday morning, Mexican authorities had put the death toll at 32 people, including 23 in Oaxaca, according to the state governor. Mexican media published photos and video of collapsed buildings and rubble in the streets. The Anel Hotel in Oaxaca collapsed, but authorities said that people inside managed to escape and that there were not believed to be any casualties.

One of the worst-hit towns appeared to be Juchitan, with 17 people reported dead and severe damage at the city hall, a market, a car dealership and a hospital. Residents put out pleas on social media for help recovering people from the wreckage.

Two children died in neighboring Tabasco state, including an infant who perished when hospital electricity failed and a ventilator shut off, said Gov. Arturo Núñez.

The earthquake was centered more than 600 miles from the capital in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Tapachula, a town in the southern state of Chiapas famous as a way station for Central American migrants headed to the United States.

Mexican authorities closed schools on Friday in Mexico City and 11 states in the central and southern part of the country so they could check for damage to infrastructure.

The U.S. Geological Survey counted at least 20 aftershocks greater than magnitude 4.0. The shaking set off waves that washed up on the coast; some coastal residents evacuated their homes and sought shelter elsewhere.

The main quake was centered 43 miles underground, more than twice as deep as the one in 1985, and experts said that dampened its impact.

[Thirty years later, Mexicans are still getting ready for the next quake]

After the shaking stopped, Mexico City and other large cities emerged mostly unscathed. Peña Nieto said more than 1 million people lost power but electricity was soon restored for most of them.

Since the 1985 quake, which destroyed or damaged an estimated 5,000 buildings in Mexico City, residents here remain wary of any temblors. The devastation left a profound impact on city activists and politics, ushering in demands for more-rigorous building standards. Authorities conduct anniversary drills to teach residents how to react.

Whereas there was one earthquake sensor in Mexico in 1985, now there are about 100 solar-powered sensors around the country.

When a quake is detected, these sensors send automatic alerts to a network of 8,000 alarms, intended to provide about a minute of warning before the shock waves reach Mexico City.

Since the early 1990s, there have been various alarm systems in use in Mexico, including radio announcements, and by 2014 Mexico City had installed its current loudspeaker system, said Juan Manuel Espinosa, director of the Center of Instrumentation and Seismic Registry, a nonprofit civil society group.

While preparations have improved, Espinosa said that becoming complacent is dangerous and that the government should continue to expand the alert network.

“I don’t want to give the impression that we are prepared and doing enough for a disaster. There are building standards that must be observed. There are many factors,” he said. “If this earthquake had been half the distance between Chiapas and Mexico City, the scenario that we would be living through now would be totally different.”

“One is never fully prepared for this,” he added. “And it’s been a long time since we’ve seen something of that magnitude in this city.”

Gabriela Martinez contributed to this report.

Read more

Earthquake experts wonder whether Southern California is next

From 2012: Earthquake strikes Mexico, rattling buildings

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Hurricane Irma will batter Florida and ‘devastate the United States,’ officials warn

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MIAMI — Hurricane Irma’s deadly fury threatened to swamp low-lying islands of the Bahamas with a possible 20-foot storm surge Friday as the massive storm moved toward Florida’s doorstep and increasingly threatened to ravage the state with destruction not seen in a generation.

The window to escape the path of Irma in Florida was rapidly closing. Forecasters said Irma will be near South Florida by Sunday morning and could potentially make landfall somewhere there, churning ashore in the wide band between the densely populated Atlantic coast and the 100-mile string of islands from Key Largo to Key West before veering to the north through the state and, potentially, on toward more population centers up the Eastern Seaboard.

“Irma is likely to make landfall in Florida as a dangerous major hurricane, and will bring life-threatening wind impacts to much of the state regardless of the exact track of the center,” the National Hurricane Center said Friday.

Local, state and federal officials offered dire warning after dire warning, making clear how much danger they felt Florida could be facing in the coming days.

“It’s not a question of if Florida’s going to be impacted, it’s a question of how bad Florida’s going to be impacted and where the storm ends up,” William “Brock” Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said at a briefing on Friday.

[Irma’s impact: ‘It’s like someone with a lawn mower from the sky has gone over the island’]

Long called Irma “a threat that is going to devastate the United States, either Florida or some of the southeastern states,” and he urged people from Alabama to North Carolina to monitor and prepare for the storm.

Floridians are familiar with ominous forecasts and hurricane warnings, and many in the state have memories of the brutal impact left behind by Hurricane Andrew — which made landfall as a Category 5 monster in 1992. But when asked about people in South Florida who intend to ride out the storm at home, Long was blunt.

“I can guarantee you that I don’t know anybody in Florida that’s ever experienced what’s about to hit South Florida,” Long said. “They need to get out and listen and heed the warnings.”

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning covering all of South Florida, where local officials have begun ordering people to leave their homes before Irma arrived. On Friday, the center said that Irma’s maximum sustained winds were near 150 mph and that it was expected “to remain a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.”

“Time is running out,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R), also suggesting that evacuation zones could spread all the way to the state’s northern border after Irma comes ashore. “All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate,” he added.

Fleeing to safer ground was not an option for many in the Caribbean, where Irma had claimed at least 16 lives — a toll expected to increase — and had the prime minister of tiny Barbuda grasping for a word to describe the devastation. The island, said Gaston Browne, was now “rubble.” France’s minister for overseas territories, Annick Girardin, described “scenes of pillaging” on St. Martin as people cleaned out stores and roamed the streets in search of food and water.

[What you need to know about Hurricane Irma and its path]

On Haiti’s northern coast, the mayor of the city Fort Liberty, Louis Jacques Etienne, called it a “nuclear hurricane.”

“Crops are destroyed, cattle is dead, and my cities are broken. It is bad. Very very bad,” he said.

The hurricane center had said Irma could vacillate between a Category 4 or 5 designation and described it as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm whose ferocious punch included surging seas.

In addition to packing intense power, Irma was also a remarkably big storm, with hurricane-force winds extending some 70 miles from the center — and tropical-storm force winds extending as far as 185 miles out.

A swell of up to 20 feet above high tide was expected in the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas — enough to cover huge portions of an archipelago where the highest point is just over 200 feet above sea level. And another powerful hurricane was following in Irma’s wake.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Jose loomed as another threat, with the National Hurricane Center saying late Friday morning that it was “now an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane” expected to bring life-threatening flooding to the the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and other areas already left reeling by Irma.

In Florida, the crush to leave had millions of people on the move. Highways were jammed, gas was scarce, airports were packed deluged and mandatory evacuations began to roll out as the first official hurricane watches were issued for the region, which could face destruction not seen since Hurricane Andrew.

[Keeping watch on other threats from Jose and Katia]

Miami-Dade County ordered some mandatory evacuations, including for Key Biscayne and Miami Beach, as well as for areas in the southern half of the county that are not protected by barrier islands. About 660,000 people were evacuated across the county, the largest evacuation order in its history, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said Friday.

“EVACUATE Miami Beach!” Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine tweeted, later noting in a news release that once winds top 40 mph, first responders will no longer be dispatched on rescue missions here. Adding to the anxiety for those able to leave town, police in Miami shot a knife-wielding man Thursday night who had entered a restricted area at the city’s international airport.

Other evacuation zones were in place across much of South Florida. States of emergency also were declared in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in anticipation of Irma’s path early next week.

Scott, the Florida governor, ordered that all state offices, public schools, state colleges and state universities be shut down from Friday through Monday “to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging.” Many public schools across South Florida and in the Tampa Bay area had already canceled classes, while colleges had also shuttered campuses and rescheduled football games.

Airports around the state said they would suspend flights and cease operations. Publix, the grocery store chain, announced plans to close stores across the state in waves and did not say when they would reopen.


Hector Diaz cuts wood that will be used to cover windows on this Ocean Drive restaurant on the southern end of Miami Beach in advance of Hurricane Irma’s expected arrival this weekend in Miami. (Photo by Andrew Innerarity/For The Washington Post)

Tom Bossert, homeland security adviser to President Trump, on Friday said that people in or near Irma’s path need to listen to local instructions and take the needed precautions.

“At some point, people are going to be on their own, so to speak, for a period of time during which the flooding, the raining and the wind bear down on them, and they need to be prepared if they are in that path and haven’t taken some action to get themselves in a less dangerous position, to be ready for at least a 72-hour period, that would be my advice, for them to have enough food, water and shelter before the government can get back in,” Bossert said during a White House briefing. “We have pre-deployed and pre-staged, but we can’t actually get to that final point of care until conditions permit.”

Still, adding to the anxiety in Florida was uncertainty about where Irma will make landfall.

“The wild card here is the turn. Anytime a hurricane makes a turn, it introduces uncertainty,” Mark DeMaria, acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told The Washington Post in the center’s headquarters in west Miami-Dade County.

DeMaria noted that the computer models have fluctuated modestly, with adjustments in the consensus track of 50 miles or so every day. “But 50 miles onshore versus right of the coast makes a huge difference in impact,” he said.

The combination of Florida’s geography, the pattern of urban settlement in narrow bands along the coasts and the projected northerly path of the hurricane presents a particularly ominous picture.

“This is a large storm coming from the south,” said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the hurricane center. “That’s the worst-case scenario, because it takes in the entire Gold Coast population, and you have the greatest impact from storm surge from that direction.”

At the National Hotel on Miami Beach, a manager announced Thursday in four languages — English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — that guests needed to evacuate because of a city order. At the front desk, guests were given a sheet listing the locations of emergency shelters, none of which were likely to be as nice as the beachfront Art Deco hotel, which was restored a few years ago.

“This morning as I walked to work, I could see the things that could become projectiles,” said Natalya Garus, 35, lead concierge at the National. “Street signs. Coconuts. All the trash cans. Smoking stations. All the decorations.”

As she spoke, workers used a ladder to dismantle a decorative light fixture hanging over the hotel entrance.

Ruben Vandebosch, 28, and Wim Marten, 26, both of Belgium, and Jim Van Es, 24, of the Netherlands, said their plan is to drive to Atlanta.

“Atlanta has a nice ring to it,” Vandebosch said. “It sounds cool.”

[In 1935, a hurricane hammered the Keys]

Joseph “Tony” Vincent, 82, braked his 3-wheeled bicycle to a stop in the Naples Mobile Home Park. He has seen many storms and planned to hit the road for Irma, but he was not heading too far — he has weekend room reservations at a modest motel just outside the park, along Tamiami Trail.

“I seen Hurricane Donna blow the river completely out of its banks in Fort Myers,” he declared Friday morning. “A 2-story frame house swayed in the wind. This one is even bigger. I’m not dumb. My mama didn’t raise no fool. ”

Vincent said that even if he had the money, he wouldn’t leave his home state over a hurricane.

“Hell, you’d be safer here than taking a car on those roads. You might be killed before you get to Atlanta,” he scoffed.

If Irma fizzles, Vincent said he’ll just ride his three wheeler back to his trailer. “I’ll come on home and get drinker than hell,” he said.

[Fraud inevitably follows disasters, so authorities in Texas, Florida prepare for post-storm scams]

The Miami-Dade Zoological Park and Gardens — otherwise known as Zoo Miami, which sprawls across more than 700 acres and has more than 3,000 animals — closed down on Thursday but said it would not be moving its animals.

“We don’t evacuate our animals since hurricanes can change direction at the last minute and you run the risk of evacuating to a more dangerous location,” the zoo said in a statement. “Furthermore, the stress of moving the animals can be more dangerous than riding out the storm. The animals that are considered dangerous will stay in their secure night houses, which are made of poured concrete and welded metal.”

When Hurricane Andrew struck, the zoo was hit hard. Tropical birds were missing, cages torn apart and animals traumatized — through, miraculously, most of the animals were unharmed.

Among those evacuating: Forty dogs from the Miami-Dade County animal shelter. They’re being flown to New York on a private plane owned by a dog lover named Georgina Bloomberg, according to Lauree Simmons, president and founder of the Big Dog Rescue shelter in Loxahatchee, Fla.

Big Dog staff went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey, rescuing 60 dogs from the floodwaters. Those dogs are awaiting adoption at the no-kill shelter. Simmons’s 33-acre rescue center has 457 dogs and puppies living in air-conditioned bunkhouses. Staff members were working frenetically Thursday packing up the contents of offices trailers. The dog bunkhouses, meanwhile, are fitted with hurricane impact glass built to withstand 200-mile-an-hour winds, Simmons said.

“The dogs will be very comfortable,” she said. “We’ll stay here with them through the storm and just keep hoping for the best.”

Popular shopping and dining areas of Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami, were nearly completely empty, the businesses buttoned up with metal curtains and new plywood protecting their front windows. The mostly spotless sandy beaches in Fort Lauderdale were virtually empty despite the green flags attached to all its lifeguard stands indicating “low hazard” for anyone wanting to take a dip in the ocean.

Tatiana Wood, 33, a waitress at a restaurant in Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road Mall, said she has a friend of a friend who lives in Oklahoma, but she was unclear of the distance or whether she would try to get there.

“If you try to escape, you may lose money,” Wood said. “If you stay, you might lose your life.”

Berman reported from Washington. Patricia Sullivan in Naples, Fla., Kimberly Kindy in Orlando, Lori Rozsa in Palm Beach County, Dustin Waters in Charleston, S.C., and Leonard Shapiro and Perry Stein in Fort Lauderdale, Anthony Faiola in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Brian Murphy and Jenna Johnson in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated and will be updated throughout the day. 

Further reading:

Tropical triple threat: Hurricanes Jose and Katia could join Irma striking land this weekend