Florida Lottery suspends daily draws

An executive order issued Sunday by Gov. Rick Scott has temporarily suspended Florida Lottery draws. This is of course due to Hurricane Irma bearing down on the state.

Players who have already purchased lottery tickets are urged to hold on to them. This is until the daily makeup draws can commence “as soon as possible after Hurricane Irma have passed,” Lottery officials said.

Florida is now officially in a state of emergency because of Irma. Governor Scott made it clear that taking care of Florida’s families is his top priority. “We at the Florida Lottery share his passion and are doing all we can do to ensure the community remain safe,” Lottery Secretary Jim Poppell said in a press release.

The executive order also warned that Department of Lottery offices in Tallahassee may be closed due to the storm.

About Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma has battered Florida with gusts of up to 145mph, flooded downtown Miami. It has brought dangerous storm surges to the west coast and cut off the Florida Keys.

After millions were ordered to evacuate, those left behind hunkered down. But Marco Rubio, the senator for Florida, said in a television interview: “You can’t hide from the water. That’s our biggest fear.” The senator is referring to the potential storm surges that might occur.

Four hundred miles wide, Irma initially moved at 8mph, slower than forecast. It has lost strength as it raked the peninsula. The hurricane made landfall on Marco Island as a category 3 storm.  Prior to this it blasting south Florida with stinging, near horizontal rain. Sudden tornadoes also appeared from nowhere.

Early on Monday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded Irma to category 1. As of 2am EDT, the storm was centred about 25 miles north-east of Tampa. It then was moving north-north-west at almost 15 mph.

We all wait to see how much damage has been caused by this monster hurricane. We hope and prey for the safety of everyone involved.

For the latest news on Irma, see http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41222053